“ OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE” : COACH EDDIE G ROBINSON

What a glorious night that Saturday night at The Cotton Bowl was back in 1985 when Coach Eddie G Robinson’s Grambling State University Tigers Team beat Prairie View A & M 27-7 before an almost entirely Black crowd of 36,652[ when Eddie G Robinson passed Paul “Bear” Bryant’s record of “323 wins” to become “THE WINNINGEST COACH IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL HISTORY!”]. It is reported that Edward G Robinson was born on February 13, 1919 in Jackson, Louisiana. Eddie graduated from McKinley Senior High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After graduating, he attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, Leland College in Baker, Louisiana, and he received his Master’s Degree from the University of Iowa( where he became a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity ). In order to support himself, young Robinson decided to return to Baton Rouge to work at a feed mill for 25 cents an hour. However, he knew that life was too short to work hard a job that he didn’t really like{ or didn’t even really want ! } for the rest of his life! You see, Eddie always had a dream of being a head football coach. One day he heard that The Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute[ now Grambling State University ] was searching for a new football coach. When Eddie thought about how great it could be, he went and applied for the coaching position( he was interviewed and hired by the President and baseball coach of the school, Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones ). In 1941, at the tender age of 22, Eddie G Robinson became the head football coach at the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute{ little did anyone know then that he would go on to become The Winningest College Football Coach in History }! In his first year the team went 3–5–1, but the following season illwhen he recruited new players and dismissed those who did not live up to his expectations, the team had a perfect 9–0 season[ going unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon ]!Numerous of Coach Rob’s( as he was sometimes affectionately called ) were drafted into the National Football League.Some of the over 200 guys that played under Coach Rob and went on to play in the NFL were, “Big Cat” Ernie Ladd, Buck Buchanan ,Willie Davis, Willie Brown, Charlie Joiner,Charlie “Tank” Smith, Sammie White, James”Shack” Harris, Everson Walls, Jake Reed,Carlos Pennywell,and who could forget Doug Williams{ the first Black Quarterback to Start , Play in, Win, and be Named as the SUPER-BOWL MVP }!!! Coach Rob’s influence was so broad that the movie industry brought a film crew all the way down to Grambling, Louisiana to shoot a movie called, “Grambling’s White Tiger” in 1981[ there was also a Documentary about his life made in 2007 called,”Every Man A Tiger” : The Eddie Robinson Story ]. Also, Eddie’ rolodex included such names as Paul Bryant and New York Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner. In 1997, Eddie even got George Steinbrenner to bring his baseball team to Grambling, Louisiana to play their final exhibition game! Finally, on April 3, 2007, Eddie G Robinson died at Lincoln General Hospital in Ruston, Louisiana. Amongst the many awards established in his honor are : The “Eddie G. Robinson Trophy”( the award for outstanding NFL rookies from HBCUs was established in 1979 by the Black College All Star Bowl committee ; its inaugural winner was Doug Williams ). Grambling named its football facility, built in 1983, EDDIE ROBINSON STADIUM{ also there is street on GSU's campus named for him }. Additionally, in 1985 South 13th Street in Baton Rouge was renamed for him. Lastly, The American Urban Radio Networks sponsored an award for HBCU coaches called the “SBN Eddie Robinson Coach of The Year”[ it was won by Grambling's own Broderick Fobbs in 2014 ].