Johnny Robinson (safety)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johnny Robinson
refer to caption
Robinson on a 1961 trading card
No. 42
Position:Safety / Flanker
Personal information
Born: (1938-09-09) September 9, 1938 (age 83)
Delhi, Louisiana
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
College:LSU
NFL Draft:1960 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3
AFL Draft:1960 / Round: 1
Career history
  • Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs (1960–1971)
Career highlights and awards
  • Super Bowl champion (IV)
  • Pro Bowl (1970)
  • First-team All-Pro (1970)
  • NFL interceptions leader (1970)
  • 3× AFL champion (1962, 1966, 1969)
  • 6× AFL All-Star (1963–1968)
  • 5× First-team All-AFL (1965–1969)
  • 2× Second-team All-AFL (1963, 1964)
  • AFL interceptions leader (1966)
  • AFL All-Time Team
  • Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame
  • National champion (1958)
  • First-team All-SEC (1958)
  • Second-team All-SEC (1959)
Career NFL statistics
Interceptions:57
Interception yards:741
Defensive touchdowns:2
Offensive touchdowns:15
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Johnny Nolan Robinson (born September 9, 1938) is a former American football player. He was primarily a safety, but also played on offense as a halfback and flanker early in his career. He played college football at Louisiana State University (LSU) for the LSU Tigers football team.

Robinson played his entire 12-year professional career for the Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and later the National Football League (NFL). He led the AFL in interceptions with ten in 1966, and led the NFL in 1970 with ten. He had 57 interceptions during his career. He is a 2019 inductee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, becoming the ninth member of the Chiefs' Super Bowl IV championship team to be inducted.

Early life[]

Robinson was an all-state football, tennis and baseball player in high school. He became starting fullback in his freshman year at U-High. Robinson and his older brother, Tommy, won the national boys' junior tennis championship when they were at University High School at LSU, where their father, Dub Robinson, was the longtime (40 years) LSU tennis coach.

College career[]

Robinson committed to play football at LSU after school where he was a member of the national championship-winning 1958 LSU Tigers football team.

Also while at LSU, he won the SEC tennis championship in singles and SEC doubles championship with his brother Tommy.

Professional career[]

Robinson was drafted by the Dallas Texans (renamed the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963) in the first round of the 1960 AFL Draft. He was also selected third overall by the Detroit Lions in the 1960 NFL Draft.[1] He was a member of the Texans in their 1962 20–17 double-overtime victory over the two-time defending AFL Champion Houston Oilers in the longest professional football league championship game ever played. He played in Super Bowl I in 1967. In Super Bowl IV, the underdog Chiefs defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 23–7. Robinson played that game with three broken ribs he received from the previous game.[2] Late in the first half, Robinson picked up a Minnesota fumble and made an interception in the second half to help seal the win.[3]

During his first two years in the AFL, Robinson played flanker on offense, rushing for 658 yards on 150 carries and had 1,228 receiving yards on 77 receptions, as well as 15 total touchdowns.<PFR/> He was moved to safety after his second year and continued as a standout safety for ten of his 12 years. His last game came on Christmas Day 1971, when the Chiefs lost to the Miami Dolphins 24–27 after 22 minutes, 40 seconds of overtime. He suffered a career ending injury that game. The game remains the longest game in NFL history. That contest was also the Chiefs' last game in Kansas City's Municipal Stadium. Robinson thus played in the sport's longest championship game in 1962 and in its absolute longest game, each game closing out professional football in its respective stadium.

Robinson retired in the summer of 1972 prior to training camp after playing for 12 years.

Legacy[]

Robinson was a seven-time first-team All-Pro and three-time second-team All-Pro selection. He is a member of the All-time All-AFL Team and one of only 20 players who were in the AFL for its entire ten-year existence.[4] The Chiefs had a 35–1–1 record in games that Robinson made an interception.[5] Robinson is an inductee of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Robinson was elected into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in February 2019, becoming the ninth member from the Chiefs' Super Bowl IV team to be inducted.[3] His bust was sculpted by Scott Myers. Later that year, he was recognized as an SEC Football Legend for LSU.[6]

Career statistics[]

Legend
Won the AFL championship
AFL & Super Bowl champion
Led the league
Bold Career high
Year Team League GP Int Yds TD Lng
1960 DAT AFL 14 — — — —
1961 DAT AFL 14 — — — —
1962 DAT AFL 14 4 25 0 20
1963 KC AFL 14 3 41 0 19
1964 KC AFL 10 2 17 0 17
1965 KC AFL 14 5 99 0 50
1966 KC AFL 14 10 136 1 29
1967 KC AFL 14 5 17 0 10
1968 KC AFL 14 6 40 0 16
1969 KC AFL 14 8 158 0 33
1970 KC NFL 14 10 155 0 57
1971 KC NFL 14 4 53 0 29
Career[1] 164 57 741 1 57

Personal and later life[]

After he retired as a player, Robinson was a scout for the Chiefs until Hank Stram was fired in 1974. He then coached defensive backs for the Jacksonville Express of the World Football League in 1975. The league folded that year, and he became a scout for the New Orleans Saints, again under Stram.[7]

Robinson founded and operates a youth home called Johnny Robinson's Boys Home for troubled boys in Monroe, Louisiana, and has been a long-time supporter of children's causes.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Johnny Robinson AFL & NFL Football Statistics". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  2. ^ Teicher, Adam (August 2, 2019). "No 'garbage interceptions' for Hall of Famer Johnny Robinson". ESPN. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Skretta, Dave (July 30, 2019). "Now there are nine: Robinson to join Super Bowl IV teammates in Hall of Fame". Fox Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Fitzpatrick, Mark (August 3, 2019). "Former Chiefs S Johnny Robinson finally getting his deserved recognition". USA Today. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  5. ^ "Johnny Robinson". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  6. ^ Kubena, Brooks (September 26, 2019). "Hall of Fame safety Johnny Robinson will serve as LSU's SEC Football Legend". The Advocate. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  7. ^ Kubena, Brooks (August 2, 2019). "'God's timing': Former LSU great Johnny Robinson finally enters Hall of Fame after full life". The Advocate. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  8. ^ Hilburn, Chet (2012). The Mystique of Tiger Stadium: 25 Greatest Games: The Ascension of LSU Football. Bloomington, Indiana: WestBow Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-4497-5269-9.
Retrieved from ""