Eddie Robinson battled one of the most cruel diseases on the face of the earth - Alzheimer’s. He couldn’t remember. His mind turned traitor on him. And late last night, his body decided it wasn’t worth the effort to keep trying.
He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease shortly after he retired in 1997 and had been in and out of a nursing home during the past year.
And so ended the life of a beloved football coach who put a small school in remote northern Louisiana on the map and turned it into a virtual farm team for the NFL during a career that spanned 57 years.
Robinson built a football powerhouse with a worldwide reputation, all the while struggling to get past years of segregation and discrimination against blacks.
His success at Grambling no doubt made him the first easily recognizable black coach in any sport.
Robinson won 408 games, the most ever for any football coach at the time of his retirement in 1997. He sent hundreds of players to the NFL and other leagues, and the majority of them were clutching college degrees when they left Grambling.
Robinson’s career spanned 11 presidents, several wars and the civil rights movement. Though his teams struggled during his final years, his overall record of excellence is what will be remembered: 408-165-15.
Until John Gagliardi of St. John’s, Minn., topped the victory mark four years ago, Robinson was the winningest coach in all of college football.
In 1995, Robinson oversaw a rare losing season — 5-6. That was followed by a 3-8 year, and there was an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations and four players were arrested for rape.
Suddenly, there were calls for Robinson to go. Fans said he had lost touch with the modern game and the young players.
As pressure mounted for him to step aside, even then-Gov. Mike Foster campaigned to give him one last season so he could try to go out a winner. But that final season again produced a 3-8 record.
Robinson’s teams had only eight losing seasons and won 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and nine national black college championships. He was inducted into every hall of fame for which he was eligible, and he received honorary degrees from several universities, including Yale.
Robinson began his storied career at Grambling with no paid assistants, no groundskeepers, no trainers and little in the way of equipment. He lined the field himself and fixed lunchmeat sandwiches for road trips because the players could not eat in the “white only” restaurants of the South.
Somehow, he never seemed bitter when recalling these experiences.
“The best way to enjoy life in America is to first be an American, and I don’t think you have to be white to do so,” Robinson said. “Blacks have had a hard time, but not many Americans haven’t.”
In 1968, refusing to be tied to a tiny home stadium on a hard-to-reach campus, Robinson took Grambling’s football show on the road, playing at some very famous addresses, including Yankee Stadium.
Running back Paul “Tank” Younger signed with the Los Angeles Rams and became the first player from an all-black college to enter the NFL. Suddenly, pro scouts learned how to find the little school 65 miles east of Shreveport near the Arkansas border.
Robinson sent over 200 players to the NFL, including seven first-round draft choices and Williams, who succeeded Robinson as Grambling’s coach in 1998. Others went to the Canadian Football League and the now-defunct USFL.
Robinson’s pro stars included Willie Davis, James Harris, Ernie Ladd, Buck Buchanan, Sammy White, Cliff McNeil, Willie Brown, Roosevelt Taylor, Charlie Joiner and Willie Williams.
The National Football Foundation honored Robinson in 1992 with its Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award. When he retired, the organization inducted him into the College Football Hall of Fame. Also in 1997, foundation board member and New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner endowed one of the foundation’s national scholar-athlete awards in Robinson’s name with a $300,000 gift.
Robinson is survived by his wife, Doris; son, Eddie Robinson Jr.; daughter, Lillian Rose Robinson; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
His body will lie in state in the rotunda of the state Capitol on Monday in Baton Rouge. The funeral will be at the new assembly center at Grambling on Wednesday. Burial will be at Memorial Cemetery in Grambling.
Grambling, Eddie Robinson, Alzheimers disease
