Dave Robinson
Encyclopedia
Richard David Robinson (born May 3, 1941) is a former professional American football
player in the National Football League
for the Green Bay Packers
and Washington Redskins
.
for all of the first 18 years of his life. Robinson is a 1959 graduate of Moorestown High School
and a member of three unbeaten NJSIAA championship teams:
. The team's record was 24-8 under the guidance of head coach Rip Engle
and assistant coach Joe Paterno
. Robinson's honors in 1962 included: All-America status, College Player of the Year from the Newark Athletic Club, and College Lineman of the Year from the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association.
Robinson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1997. He was a Gator Bowl
MVP
and was inducted into the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame.
Robinson earned his degree in Civil Engineering at Penn State University.
and by the San Diego Chargers
in the third round of the AFL Draft of the same year. He was also drafted by the Montreal Alouettes
of the CFL
. Originally, he did not think he would end up playing in Green Bay. The Chargers had a financial package of $38,000 for Robinson but ran out of money and were going to trade his AFL rights to the Buffalo Bills
. Robinson's fiancé (and future wife) Elaine had been to Buffalo and knew how cold it was there, but had never been to Green Bay. Robinson would later recall that she didn't join him there until his second year in the NFL.
The Packers decided to move Robinson from defensive end to linebacker. After backing up incumbent Dan Currie
during his rookie season, Robinson became the starting left side linebacker for the Packers and remained in that role with the team through 1972. Alongside the immortal MLB Ray Nitschke
and Pro Bowl
er Lee Roy Caffey
, the three formed one of the best starting units of linebackers in NFL history. Robinson was not only adept at defending the run but also against the pass. He intercepted 21 passes as a Packer, including five in 1966, which tied cornerback Bob Jeter
for the team lead. Robinson played on two Super Bowl
Championship teams, and won a total of three NFL Titles with the Packers (1965, 1966, 1967). During that time, he developed a reputation as a big-game player. Perhaps the most notable example came in the 1966 NFL Championship game against the Dallas Cowboys
. On a fourth down play from the Packer two-yard-line, Robinson pressured Cowboys quarterback
Don Meredith
into a desperation pass that was intercepted by safety Tom Brown in the end zone, preserving a 34-27 victory by the Packers. Despite this, Vince Lombardi
, the future Hall of Fame
head coach of the Packers, was not pleased that Robinson had freelanced on the play and gave him the coach's lowest grade possible, a minus two. However, Lombardi would later privately praise Robinson for making the game-winning play.
After Lombardi's retirement as Packers' head coach following Super Bowl II
, the aging team went into a period of decline under new coach (and former defensive coordinator) Phil Bengston. Individually, Robinson continued to shine. He was named 1st Team All-Pro
by the NEA and UPI
in 1968. In 1969, he was again named 1st Team All-Pro by the NEA and UPI and was also chosen for the 1st Team's of the New York Daily News
, PFW
and The Sporting News
. Robinson suffered a setback during the 1970 season when he tore his Achilles tendon, but was ready for the start of the 1971 season. By then, Bengston had been replaced as Packers' head coach by Dan Devine
. Robinson did not get along with Devine and would later state that, while he felt that Vince Lombardi was the best coach he ever played for, Devine was his worst coach at any level: high school, college or pros. Although the team rebounded from a 4-8-2 record in Devine's first season to finish 10-4 and win the NFC Central Divisional title, the 1972 season would be Robinson's last in a Packers uniform.
Robinson then finished his career with the Washington Redskins from 1973–1974, playing under another future Hall of Fame head coach in George Allen. He later stated that he was fine with the trade to the Redskins because there was no way that he would play for Devine anymore. Robinson continued his high level of play in D.C., intercepting four passes during his first season with the Redskins. On October 14, 1973, Robinson returned one of those four interceptions 28 yards for the only touchdown of his career during a 21-3 Redskins win over the New York Giants
. Robinson retired from the NFL in August 1975. He finished his career with 27 interceptions for return yardage totaling 449 and the one aforementioned touchdown. He also recovered 12 fumbles. Robinson was named to three Pro Bowl
s in 1966, 1967, and 1969 and was selected for one of the linebacker spots on the NFL's all-decade team for the 1960s.
in Camden, New Jersey
through 1967 and then for Schlitz Brewery in Milwaukee. He then worked full time with Schlitz upon his retirement from pro football. In April 1984, he started his own beer distributorship in Akron, Ohio
until semi-retiring in 2001. He then worked in sales for an artificial turf company before officially retiring in 2006. Robinson has also been a member of the Board of Directors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Robinson and Royce Boyles co-authored The Lombardi legacy: thirty people who were touched by greatness. In 2009, the second edition of the book was published by Goose Creek Publishers.
In addition to being a member of the College Football and Gator Bowl Halls of Fame, Robinson was also inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in February 1982. As of yet, he has not been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
for the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
and Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
.
Early life
Robinson, the youngest child of Leslie Robinson and his wife Mary Gaines, lived exclusively in Mount Laurel Township, New JerseyMount Laurel Township, New Jersey
Mount Laurel Township is a Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, and is an edge city "suburb" of Philadelphia. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 40,221...
for all of the first 18 years of his life. Robinson is a 1959 graduate of Moorestown High School
Moorestown High School
Moorestown High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Moorestown Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Moorestown Township Public Schools...
and a member of three unbeaten NJSIAA championship teams:
- 1957 South Jersey Group III championship football team, with a record of 9-0,
- 1958 State Group III championship basketball team, with a record of 22-0,
- 1959 State Group III championship basketball team, with a record of 22-0.
College career
From 1960 to 1962, Robinson played end on offense and defense for Penn State UniversityPennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
. The team's record was 24-8 under the guidance of head coach Rip Engle
Rip Engle
Charles A. "Rip" Engle was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at Brown University from 1944 to 1949 and at Pennsylvania State University from 1950 to 1965, compiling a career college football record of 132–68–8...
and assistant coach Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...
. Robinson's honors in 1962 included: All-America status, College Player of the Year from the Newark Athletic Club, and College Lineman of the Year from the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association.
Robinson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 1997. He was a Gator Bowl
Gator Bowl
The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Held continuously since 1946, it is the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nationally...
MVP
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
and was inducted into the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame.
Robinson earned his degree in Civil Engineering at Penn State University.
Professional career
Robinson was drafted by the Packers in the first round of the 1963 NFL Draft1963 NFL Draft
The 1963 National Football League Draft was held on December 4, 1962.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:-Round eight:-Round nine:-Round ten:...
and by the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the third round of the AFL Draft of the same year. He was also drafted by the Montreal Alouettes
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...
of the CFL
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
. Originally, he did not think he would end up playing in Green Bay. The Chargers had a financial package of $38,000 for Robinson but ran out of money and were going to trade his AFL rights to the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Robinson's fiancé (and future wife) Elaine had been to Buffalo and knew how cold it was there, but had never been to Green Bay. Robinson would later recall that she didn't join him there until his second year in the NFL.
The Packers decided to move Robinson from defensive end to linebacker. After backing up incumbent Dan Currie
Dan Currie
Daniel George Currie is a former professional American football linebacker in the National Football League. He played nine seasons for the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams . He was an All-American linebacker and center at Michigan State in 1957...
during his rookie season, Robinson became the starting left side linebacker for the Packers and remained in that role with the team through 1972. Alongside the immortal MLB Ray Nitschke
Ray Nitschke
Raymond Ernest "Ray" Nitschke was a professional football player who played his entire career as a middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. Wearing #66, he played fifteen seasons, from 1958-72....
and Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
er Lee Roy Caffey
Lee Roy Caffey
Lee Roy Caffey was an American football linebacker in the National Football League.He played college football at Texas A&M University where he led the Aggies in rushing with 371 yards in 1961. He played on the 1963 College All Star Football Team and in the 1963 Challenge Bowl and is a member of...
, the three formed one of the best starting units of linebackers in NFL history. Robinson was not only adept at defending the run but also against the pass. He intercepted 21 passes as a Packer, including five in 1966, which tied cornerback Bob Jeter
Bob Jeter
Robert DeLafayette Jeter, Jr. was a former American football cornerback in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. He was raised in Weirton, WV where he attended Weir High School...
for the team lead. Robinson played on two Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
Championship teams, and won a total of three NFL Titles with the Packers (1965, 1966, 1967). During that time, he developed a reputation as a big-game player. Perhaps the most notable example came in the 1966 NFL Championship game against the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
. On a fourth down play from the Packer two-yard-line, Robinson pressured Cowboys quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Don Meredith
Don Meredith
Joseph Don "Dandy Don" Meredith was an American football quarterback, sports commentator and actor. He spent all nine seasons of his professional playing career with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League . He was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his last three years as a player...
into a desperation pass that was intercepted by safety Tom Brown in the end zone, preserving a 34-27 victory by the Packers. Despite this, Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
, the future Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
head coach of the Packers, was not pleased that Robinson had freelanced on the play and gave him the coach's lowest grade possible, a minus two. However, Lombardi would later privately praise Robinson for making the game-winning play.
| “Trying to pass over Robinson, with his arms and reaction, is like trying to pass over the Empire State Building Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived... .” |
| Jack Christiansen Jack Christiansen -External links:*Pro Football Hall of Fame: *... |
After Lombardi's retirement as Packers' head coach following Super Bowl II
Super Bowl II
The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later to be known as Super Bowl II, was played on January 14, 1968 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida....
, the aging team went into a period of decline under new coach (and former defensive coordinator) Phil Bengston. Individually, Robinson continued to shine. He was named 1st Team All-Pro
All-Pro
All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...
by the NEA and UPI
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
in 1968. In 1969, he was again named 1st Team All-Pro by the NEA and UPI and was also chosen for the 1st Team's of the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, PFW
Pro Football Weekly
Pro Football Weekly is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, that covers the National Football League...
and The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
. Robinson suffered a setback during the 1970 season when he tore his Achilles tendon, but was ready for the start of the 1971 season. By then, Bengston had been replaced as Packers' head coach by Dan Devine
Dan Devine
Daniel John Devine was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the University of Notre Dame from 1975 to 1980, compiling a career college football mark of...
. Robinson did not get along with Devine and would later state that, while he felt that Vince Lombardi was the best coach he ever played for, Devine was his worst coach at any level: high school, college or pros. Although the team rebounded from a 4-8-2 record in Devine's first season to finish 10-4 and win the NFC Central Divisional title, the 1972 season would be Robinson's last in a Packers uniform.
Robinson then finished his career with the Washington Redskins from 1973–1974, playing under another future Hall of Fame head coach in George Allen. He later stated that he was fine with the trade to the Redskins because there was no way that he would play for Devine anymore. Robinson continued his high level of play in D.C., intercepting four passes during his first season with the Redskins. On October 14, 1973, Robinson returned one of those four interceptions 28 yards for the only touchdown of his career during a 21-3 Redskins win over the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Robinson retired from the NFL in August 1975. He finished his career with 27 interceptions for return yardage totaling 449 and the one aforementioned touchdown. He also recovered 12 fumbles. Robinson was named to three Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
s in 1966, 1967, and 1969 and was selected for one of the linebacker spots on the NFL's all-decade team for the 1960s.
Post NFL Activities
Robinson has pursued many different endeavors since retiring as an NFL player. During his career, he had worked in the off-season as an engineer at Campbell's SoupCampbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company , also known as Campbell's, is an American producer of canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. It is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey...
in Camden, New Jersey
Camden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
through 1967 and then for Schlitz Brewery in Milwaukee. He then worked full time with Schlitz upon his retirement from pro football. In April 1984, he started his own beer distributorship in Akron, Ohio
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
until semi-retiring in 2001. He then worked in sales for an artificial turf company before officially retiring in 2006. Robinson has also been a member of the Board of Directors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Robinson and Royce Boyles co-authored The Lombardi legacy: thirty people who were touched by greatness. In 2009, the second edition of the book was published by Goose Creek Publishers.
In addition to being a member of the College Football and Gator Bowl Halls of Fame, Robinson was also inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in February 1982. As of yet, he has not been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Sources
- "Loss to All-Stars stung Lombardi", Rivals.com July 21, 2006
- Dave Robinson biography, College Football Hall of Fame
- Gator Bowl Hall of Fame, Gator Bowl website, August 2, 2006