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AFM Magazine


Words of Wisdom - Eddie Robinson

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In the world of sports, there are certain numbers that stand alone, needing no words to aid in the description of their meaning. In baseball, that number might be 56, signifying the amazing hitting streak compiled by Joe DiMaggio. In basketball, that mystical number might be 100 - the number of points scored by Wilt Chamberlain one night in Hershey, Pa. And in football, a pretty good number to remember would be 408. That's the number of wins the immortal Eddie Robinson accumulated over his 55-year head coaching career at Grambling State University.

The son of a Louisiana sharecropper, Robinson overcame poverty and racial prejudice to become the winningest coach in the history of college football. More than 200 players coached by Robinson have go on to play professional football including Paul "Tank" Younger, who played for the Los Angeles Rams and was the first player from a historically black college to sign a pro contract in 1949, James Harris, the first black quarterback to earn a starting job in the NFL and Doug Williams, the first black to start a Super Bowl at quarterback. On top of that, Robinson coached NFL Hall of Famers Buck Buchanan, Willie Davis, Charlie Joiner and Willie Brown.

"They changed the name of the school to Grambling University. Used to be when the other team was down at our goal line, our students would yell, "Hold the line, Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute!" Before they could finish the cheer, the other guys would score."

"Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men, to get them to believe in you."

"I like to see my players come to me as boys and leave as men."

"I learned very early on that despite of a lot of obstacles, America gives you opportunity. And maybe that's the most important thing I can impress on my players."

"The kids cried, but in their heart I know they understood me and were with me." - said after team lost 9-7 on final play, from one-foot line, going for touchdown instead of field goal.

"Balance is our key and intensive practice provides our sharpness."

"I still want to coach a boy as if he were my own son."

"I'm old-fashioned. To me there's still a right way and there's a wrong way."

"If you think you have two strikes on you because you're black and you aren't allowed to do anything, then you'll strike out."

"If a man doesn't stand up for what he believes in, he's not worth a damn."

"You know, when they call the role, I would like to feel I have made some positive contribution to society, some little something. Coaching for coaching's sake is fine, but there are other things - like teaching boys to compete in society - and I don't know if I could have done some things I've done anywhere else than Grambling."

Quotations from Football Coach Quotes: The Wit, Wisdom and Winning Words of Leaders on the Gridiron by Larry Adler.






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