Eddie Robinson IS Grambling- And So Much More!

As I look at the tributes pouring in from around the country, one thing stands out. The respect that Eddie Robinson carried and gave. The hard work ethic instilled in him. The intense love he had for his team, and more important, that 74-year love affair with the girl he met in high school- Doris, whom he would be married to in 1941. Behind a good man, they say, is a good woman. And there's no doubt in my mind that Doris was his rock, as he was hers as well. If there's any example of how a marriage should be, just look to the Eddie and Doris Robinsons, and to another extent, the Ruby Dees and Ossie Davises (we lost Ossie last year). Their marriages worked because they lived as a team. One for the other, giving and receiving love unselfishly.

But going back to Coach Rob, he didn't look at his accomplishments as something that should be relegated to just black history. Oh, he has a place in that as well, but he didn't look at his accomplishments as 'just black'. He looked at his accomplishments as something good for all of humankind. White, black, Latino, Asian. The entire world. He felt that he had to give something back, for he was given a unique talent- in this case coaching. And the lessons he gave back could apply to all of us. The lessons that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to, if you just work at it. You do things because you love to- after all, even after he was pressured to retire in the 1990s, he saw it like this, "You can have my coaching job, when you could pry it from my cold dead hands" (to paraphrase the 'Gun from my cold dead hands' quote). Even when his last year of coaching was filled with scandal, Coach Rob still held his head high, and he left the same way he came in. Regardless of what the papers and historians say, he left with dignity in 1997.

Not even the scourge of Alzheimer's would diminish his twinkle. His son, Eddie Robinson, Jr. would show him the tapes of his father's games. As I watched this footage from New Orleans' WWL-TV, Coach Rob would smile, as if he would say, "Those were the days. It's been a very fun ride, indeed."

Now the legend has left for the great football field in the sky. God needed an extra coach on April 3, 2007, and Eddie Gay Robinson, Sr. had answered the call. But on his way to heaven, he looked down on the Earth, smiled at the legacy he left behind. And then ascended on to his heavenly reward.

To his widow, Doris, we thank you for sharing him for so many years. I feel your loss- I found it very difficult not to shed tears as you lost the greatest love and best friend, other than God, of course. To the children, Eddie, Jr. and Lilian, you had the best father any child could have. The lessons you've learned, I'm sure, you've passed on to your children and grandchildren, and to the great-grandchildren as well.

It would not surprise me at all that the students of Grambling State University will return from spring break with heavy hearts, as the school has lost its' biggest booster. They definitely owe a debt of gratitude and thanks to Coach Rob, for it was he who practically put the school on the map. It is hoped that the coaching he taught his players will rub off on the student body as a whole.

I've read this column by ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski (go to it here at http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojchiechowski_gene&id=2825782&sportCat=ncf ). He's right when he says that we must not get a case of 'self-imposed Alzheimer's when it comes to rememebering Coach Rob. A bowl game- or even the Bayou Classic game, the Southern University/Grambling State matchup played annually at the Louisana Superdome in New Orleans- must be named or renamed for the titan who put Grambling State where it is today. To do something less would surely disrespect the memory and legacy of Eddie Gay Robinson, Sr.


Shreveport's KTBS 3 did a tribute to him. You can go there by clicking on the title.

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.