Coach Rob Stood for Respect

On a week including the resolution of the Final Four and the beginning of the baseball season, I would never have guessed that Grind It Out Sports would be addressing a college football story. Granted the Georgetown game was a big disappointment…even though Hibbert outplayed Oden in the most hyped matchup of 7-footers since Olajuwon-Ewing over 20 years ago, an uncharacteristic string of Hoya turnovers opened the door for Conley and company to score on fast breaks, as the Buckeyes kept Georgetown at bay to advance to the finals. A finals which was more a coronation for the Gators than a game as Ohio State never really got involved. The game, which was played right after the first Passover seder was disappointingly “like any other night” in which the Gators superior talent and depth allowed them to coast to victory.

None of that seems as significant as the passing of former Grambling State head coach Eddie Robinson this week at age 88. “Coach Rob”, as he was affectionately known by his players coached that team for 57 years, and is not only a bridge to the past, but a man whose unique presence made a meaningful contribution to the changing social environment of our country.

Just the sound of Grambling State’s former name connotes a bygone era in our country: “Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute”. Robinson took over the coaching job at this traditionally black college in 1941, and in a segregated America his interpretation of his coaching duties included making sandwiches for his players when they went to road games, since they were not welcome at any restaurants along the way. "Coaching is a profession of love.” Robinson would say, “You can't coach people unless you love them." Anyone whose Mom or Dad made them sandwiches can relate, but what must it have meant for these young men, away from the home for the first time, to have the soothing, upbeat, and gentlemanly presence of Robinson to give them courage and teach them what it means to be a man – in a nation where they were treated as less than men.

That Robinson set the record for coaching wins is a fitting tribute, less to his X’s and O’s than to his consistency and unwavering dedication to his purpose in life. He found at Grambling a platform that allowed him to touch the lives of thousands of young men, 200 of which went on to the NFL. Within the reach of his little college he was able to lay down his own rules. Saying that he treated each player “like he wanted to marry my daughter”, Robinson created a place where every individual was respected. It just took America a little while to catch up to him.

Thanks for the legacy you created for all human beings to learn from, and rest in peace Coach Rob.