NFL

Family cheers after Weatherford brightens dying fan’s final days

BIG BLUE BENEVOLENCE: Lifelong Giants fan Joseph Brennan’s (right inset) final days were brightened when Giants punter Steve Weatherford, contacted by Brennan’s daughter through Facebook, signed Brennan’s favorite hat (left inset) and added a personal note. (Anthony J. Causi (above); Courtesy Brennan family (2))

He was not destined to be on this earth much longer and “he was in a lot of pain,’’ his daughter, Diane, recalled.

But “he had a little smile on his face’’ when she slipped on to the head of her cancer-ravaged father, Joseph Brennan, his treasured Giants hat, newly signed by punter Steve Weatherford.

“He smiled when we put that hat on, it was quite amazing,’’ Diane Brennan told The Post.

What is also quite amazing is how a simple act of kindness can find its way through cyberspace and the U.S. mail to resonate so deeply with, as Diane Brennan put it, “a humble family’’ in Rhode Island that now keeps Weatherford in its blessings as it mourns a beloved husband, father and grandfather.

“The fact is, it took minimal effort from me,’’ Weatherford said. “Literally five minutes to sign this hat.’’

Here is the light to so much of the darkness intersecting athletes and social media, the self-promotion and self-absorption and nonsensical noise designed to drive players and fans closer, which actually often does quite the opposite. Weatherford is an enthusiastic and avid participant, active on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as efficient with his iPhone 5 as he is knocking a football out of bounds. He has been infamously burned once by his quick trigger finger, making him more cautious, but only slightly less prolific.

“Let’s be honest, I’m a punter,’’ Weatherford told The Post during a training-camp break. “It’s not like I’m that big a part of the team. Granted, I feel like I am talented at my position, but the fact of the matter is I’m a punter. I play five or six plays a game. The fact people care what I think and I’m able to motivate people by being such a small piece of this team and still carry some weight off the field is cool.’’

The Twitter king of the Giants, far and away, is Victor Cruz (@TeamVic) with more than 340,000 followers. Justin Tuck (@JustinTuckNYG91), the defensive captain, is next at nearly 175,000. Incredibly, Weatherford (@Weatherford5) is third with slightly more than 62,000 followers. Of course, if Eli Manning were so inclined he’d vault over them all.

Weatherford, a proud owner of a chiseled bodybuilder’s physique, at 30 looks more like a decathlete than a punter and his personality is high energy to the nth degree. He posts and tweets pictures of his family in Halloween costumes, shares some of coach Tom Coughlin’s motivational words, spends up to 90 minutes in Twitter repartee on what he calls Weatherford Wednesdays, which he said is “really fan engagement day for me.’’

Last summer, Weatherford thought his followers would get a kick out of video he took of Prince Amukamara getting lifted into the air by Jason Pierre-Paul and, with teammates howling in delight, dumped into a cold tub. Instantly, the images sparked a polarizing debate: Training-camp antics versus anti-social bullying. Weatherford, thoroughly embarrassed, had crossed a line as far as unveiling the inner sanctum and was rebuked by the team.

“Ninety-nine point nine percent of the tweets I make are positive, team building, motivational, but every once in a while you make a mistake and tweet something like the cold tub video,’’ he said. “You take the good with the bad. I think I learned my lesson, before I do tweet things I double and triple check ’em.’’

Diane Brennan is a lifelong Giants fan because her father loved them even though he lived in Patriots country — Providence, R.I. Joseph Brennan told tales of Y.A. Tittle and Sam Huff, idolized Lawrence Taylor as a player, called Phil Simms “Twinkletoes.’’ A head custodian in the Providence school system, he only attended one Giants game in his life, back at the old Giants Stadium.

“Meager means, worked very hard all his life and provided very, very well for his family,’’ Diane Brennan said of her father.

On Facebook, Diane couldn’t help but notice the whirlwind of activity that was Steve Weatherford.

“He just seems like such a caring person,’’ she said. “I don’t know, for some reason I just felt the need to [message] him, I can’t explain why.’’

Diane told Weatherford about her father, diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. She reached out on Facebook, asking Weatherford this: If she sent her father’s Giants hat, would he sign it and send it back?

“He contacted me right away and said, ‘Whatever you want and I will get it back to you as soon as I can,’ ’’ Diane recalled.

Diane Brennan received the signed hat on Friday, July 26. Also included was a warmly written note from Weatherford.

“My father had a really tough time, going in and out of it, times of hallucinations and stuff,’’ Diane said. “We put the hat on him and he smiled.’’

Joseph Brennan, 79, passed away on Tuesday, July 30.

“Steve went way beyond what I ever could have imagined,’’ Diane Brennan said. “We’re such a humble family. My father’s a very humble man, and for [Weatherford] to take time out of his busy schedule to do anything, we’re just average people, just fans that asked for a simple favor and he’s gone way beyond what we ever expected.’’

Joseph Brennan was buried with a Giants helmet, wearing a favorite Giants T-shirt underneath his suit. The family members all wore Giants pins. Diane made sure a picture of Steve Weatherford and the hat he signed were on display at the funeral and the priest went out of his way to mention Weatherford’s kindness.

“I’m thinking to myself this literally took me five minutes and this guy’s lived for 79 years and I’m in his homily?’’ Weatherford said.

On Thursday, Diane Brennan, her son Christopher, daughters Caitlin and Meagan, husband David Page (“Unfortunately a Patriots fan, but we’re trying,’’ Diane said), her brother Joseph, sister Lynn and mother, Marilyn, will ride in from Cranston, R.I., to the Giants’ training facility and attend practice as guests of Weatherford.

“You hear so much negative about football players, you have Aaron Hernandez, you have all this stuff so negative about players,’’ Diane said. “This person just went one step beyond.’’