Grambling Remembers Eddie Robinson

Grambling Remembers Eddie Robinson-read below the dotted line for my own personal Coach "ROB" story.
By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer

GRAMBLING, La. -- It was the kind of gathering of former NFL stars that might draw a crowd in any other small town. Here, they were part of the crowd, just a handful of men among thousands of people honoring the late coaching legend Eddie Robinson.

"He's as great a person, or mentor or coach as America has ever had," said James Harris, the former Grambling State University quarterback who became one of the first black quarterbacks in the NFL when he joined O.J. Simpson in the Buffalo Bills' backfield. "There are so many things to be thankful for and proud of that you just had an opportunity in life to be touched by such an outstanding person."


Robinson's burial on Wednesday was to mark the end of three days of events to honor the longtime Grambling coach, who died last week at age 88. On Monday, he joined only a handful of other figures in Louisiana history, including political titan Huey Long, who have lain in repose inside the state Capitol in Baton Rouge.

On Tuesday night, cars filled a church parking lot and more lined Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue as an overflow crowd crammed into a Baptist church for Robinson's wake.

Robinson's wife, Doris, who had attended a memorial service for her late husband in the Capitol a day earlier, was not at the wake. Friends and family said she was not feeling well but still planned to attend the funeral on Wednesday.

Still, the wake was so crowded that former NFL defensive back Everson Walls, who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants, spent part of the service standing in the aisle of the church balcony.

Nearby sat Doug Williams, the former NFL quarterback who became the Super Bowl MVP with the Washington Redskins in 1988.

After the service, Harris chatted with Hall of Fame defensive back Willie Brown, who was famous for his 75-yard touchdown return of a Fran Tarkenton pass in the Oakland Raiders' Super Bowl victory over the Minnesota Vikings in 1977. Hall of Fame receiver Charlie Joiner was expected to attend the burial on Wednesday, Harris said. They all played at one time or another for the man so many here call "Coach Rob."

"He established a tradition. He put Grambling on the map. He touched football on every level. But even more important, he touched the lives of so many other Americans," Harris said after the service. "Everybody here at Grambling, when you travel around the country, there's such a strong camaraderie that was kind of built through the work of coach. He's a rare, rare person."

Grambling basketball coach and former NBA player Larry Wright, speaking at the wake, drew applause from the crowd when he called Robinson "larger than life" and "the greatest Gramblingite of all-time."

Robinson had no paid assistants when he took what would be his first and only college coaching job in 1941. He went on to coach for 57 seasons, winning 408 games and sending more than 200 players from the small school in rural north Louisiana to the NFL.

Former players have remembered Robinson as a man who not only taught them hard work and perseverance on the football field, but also stressed education, humility, generosity, and loyalty. Longtime residents of this town say Robinson never seemed too busy or self-important to chat with them. Athletes who played sports other than football at Grambling still cited Robinson as a major influence in their lives.

"I would go to football practice almost every day just to hear something legendary from coach Rob," Wright recalled. "You had to get some of his touch. He dealt with everybody. Every time he'd see you, it was: 'Hey, Cat, how you doing?' And you knew that it was genuine. They don't come no better than coach Robinson."

Addressing the crowd, Republican state Sen. Bob Kostelka wondered aloud what kind of salary Robinson might have had a chance to earn were he in his prime in this day of seven-figure salaries for top college coaches.

"He didn't move from university to university. He didn't live in a palace. He lived in the same sleepy little town and produced All-Americans and Hall-of-Famers," Kostelka said. "He gained something more than what you can buy with money. He gained immortality ... and there is only one coach Rob."
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So it was 1989, and Coach ROB was still involved with day to day operations of the team. I was Coaching in Semi-pro at the time, but had begun publishing(along with others) our Annual Guide to the NFL draft. I needed some Information on some players, and was determined to get through the switchboard at the school. One of my fellow coaches, Jeff Barnes ,had gone to Grambling as a QB prospect, but coach ROB switched him to RB/KR/PR, and while my friend sulked a bit, at least he got to play as a backup/special teamer, instead of holding a clipboard for 4 years. So i had my friend call, and of course he got through and i got my information, after Coach talked off my friends' ear for 10 mins.
Two of my more recent co-workers played for Coach ROB as well, and they were roommates. I'm quite sure they are wearing their Grambling st. Pride this week.