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January 29, 2004
BACK AGAIN: Robinson's Super error still lingers
By Joe Menzer | JOURNAL REPORTER
HOUSTON
Eugene Robinson loves to talk. He even talks for a living these days.
But there is one subject that he doesn't much like to talk about, although he will if asked politely enough.
Robinson will be in the radio booth on Sunday to call Super Bowl XXXVIII for the Carolina Panthers' broadcast team that includes play-by-play man Bill Rosinski and color man Jim Szoke. The last time he traveled to a Super Bowl city as a member of a NFL team was in January of 1999 in Miami, when he was a starting safety for the NFC champion Atlanta Falcons.
The night before Robinson and the Falcons played in Super Bowl XXXIII against the Denver Broncos, Robinson was arrested for offering a Miami undercover police officer $40 for oral sex. His wife Gia was back in the team hotel at the time, and the story almost overshadowed the game, which the Falcons lost 34-19, in part because an obviously distracted Robinson played poorly.
His arrest occurred just hours after Robinson was awarded the Bart Starr award from the religious group Athletes in Action for his leadership in the home, on the field and in the community.
In a plea agreement, his record was cleared after he took a HIV test and attended a class on AIDS awareness - but the incident has remained a stain on an otherwise positive legacy of a man who finished his playing career with the Panthers and then made the leap to the broadcast booth.
Robinson admitted yesterday that he isn't comfortable talking about the incident, but that he will when he figures that perhaps another player can learn something from his story.
"Any interviews I've done, when they ask me about the other Super Bowl and this and that, I'll quickly distract them, and deflect it," he said. "This isn't my time; this is their time. This could easily be a story about me, but it ain't. I'm not going to suit up. I'm not going to knock down one ball. I'm not going to do one thing.
"So I'm going to stay under the radar and make sure the story is about what New England does and what we need to do."
But with kickoff still five days away yesterday, the story was about Robinson and his bizarre Super Bowl experience almost five years ago to the day.
"My prayer is that none of that stuff would happen to any player at all," Robinson said. "You wouldn't ever want something that would take away from the game. And if it does, you have to assume responsibility."
Robinson said that assuming responsibility at home for the mishap was the hardest part for him. His wife has remained with him, giving him the best in what he considers a series of blessed second chances.
"It bothers me that I hurt my wife. It bothers me because of that - because behind all the scenes, I don't live with you. You've got your own set of problems you've got to deal with," Robinson told a handful of assembled news media at the Panthers' team hotel. "I don't live with you, but I live with my family.
"You can only be as contrite and as repentant and as hard-working as possible. Just roll up your sleeves and go to work. That's it. That's the only formula I know. Don't try to run away, or hide. That's what I've been doing the last four or five years.
"God's done me an unbelievable favor, that I would be in this venue once again. Who would have thought I would be back, calling the game?"
Robinson said that he is forever grateful to Dan Reeves, the former head coach of the Falcons, and to owner Jerry Richardson of the Panthers for giving him second chances. Reeves permitted Robinson to play in Super Bowl XXXIII less than 24 hours after his 1999 arrest, while Richardson approved the free-agent signing of Robinson by former head coach George Seifert prior to the 2000 season.
"Dan Reeves is incredible. Anybody who says anything bad about Dan Reeves has a bone to pick with me - because he's absolutely incredible," Robinson said. "Two guys who are absolutely incredible are Dan Reeves and Mr. Richardson. I'm a guy who got a second chance. I got to play two extra years (because of them)."
Robinson said that he has talked to several Panthers on an individual basis about his experience, with the goal being to prevent one of them from straying and doing something off the field that might get them in trouble and bring embarrassment to the team, themselves and their families.
But he said that he only does so when the player first comes to him for advice.
"Only on an intimate basis, when guys ask me. It's always on a personal level. If someone asks me, it's personal and that's different," Robinson said.
"I was talking to (a New York reporter) a little bit ago, and he was trying to pump a story out of me. I'm like, 'Unless your name is Gia Robinson, Brittany Robinson or Brandon Robinson, you ain?t going to get too much out of me.'
"But if you're a football player and you ask me, that's totally different. Then it's real ... it's not fanfare, it's not a story. You're talking about life, and that's different. In that situation, I'm much more ready to go ahead and talk and answer questions - and to be honest and forthright as much possible with that player. And I've done that."
Mike Minter, a strong safety with the Panthers, said that the players appreciate having Robinson around to discuss past experiences.
"We can all get caught up into situations, so you just want to learn what to do and what not to do," Minter said.
• Joe Menzer can be reached at jmenzer@wsjournal.com