Coach Robinson Battles Alzheimers
 

Grambling's Robinson battles Alzheimer's

By Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times

November 8, 2003

It is a sad fact that maybe the only person in football who doesn't know St. John's (Minn.) Coach John Gagliardi has tied Eddie Robinson on the all-time victories list is Eddie Robinson.
Gagliardi notched career win No. 408 last week and can pass Robinson today with a home win against Bethel.


This landmark event has not reached Robinson, 84 now and afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. The legendary "Coach Rob," forced to retire in 1997 after 57 seasons as coach at
Grambling, spends quiet days in the care of his wife, Doris.
"He's still getting up and coming to the table, which is encouraging," she said by phone from the couple's home in Grambling, La. "He eats pretty good ... we get up for breakfast, but as soon as he eats he's ready to go back to bed. He sleeps, and we get him up for lunch."
Asked if Robinson was aware his coaching record was about to be eclipsed, she said, "No. We are, but he's not."
She said her husband's disease has progressed in the last two years, though Robinson was able to give a speech last spring in Atlanta. She said her grandchildren wrote the script in large letters to make it easier for Robinson to read.
"He did well," she said. "That was last spring. He's gradually, gradually going down."
Robinson has some long-term memory, and is occasionally lucid enough to conduct interviews, but Doris said now is not a good time. She does, however, feel comfortable in speaking for her husband as Gagliardi closes in on win No. 409.
"I don't believe he would be upset," she said. "As far as I'm concerned, records are made to be broken. When you're out there in the great big world, if you come up with one, somebody can top you."
The Grambling community has respectfully come to grips with the fact Robinson's mark is going to fall to a Division III coach in tiny, Collegeville, Minn. Robinson became the all-divisions coaching leader on Oct. 5, 1985, when he won his 324th game and passed Bear Bryant. Robinson kept right on coaching, up to a very bitter end. He finished with a career record of 408-165-15 â€" but had three consecutive losing seasons to close the books.
Doug Williams, one of Robinson's star quarterbacks and now Grambling's coach, said he has nothing but admiration for Gagliardi's achievement.
"Four-hundred some-odd wins is a lot of wins," Williams said. "I don't care what level: Pop Warner, Sisters of the Poor, it doesn't matter. Winning is winning."
Some may want to diminish Gagliardi's accomplishments because his wins were not recorded on the major-college level, or by ESPN cameras. Some made the same argument against Robinson and Grambling, a Division I-AA school.
It just doesn't wash, particularly in Robinson's case.
For years, his Grambling teams were relegated to the segregated black conferences of the South. Grambling produced scores of future NFL stars Tank Younger, Willie Davis, Buck Buchanan, Charlie Joiner and James Harris.
As the telephone interview wound down, Doris wanted to make one last point. "I must add to everything that he was a great father and a husband," she said, again speaking as if Eddie, at least a part of him, has departed.
Sixty-two years married to one woman? Fifty-seven years coaching at one school? Doris Robinson was wrong on one count: Some records will never be broken.

This statement comes from his granddaughter (DST)

Coach Robinson, now 84 years old, has not been formally diagnosed with
Alzheimer's disease by any doctors and his condition is not as grave as
was depicted in the articles that have surfaced. He can still talk about
his career and the game of football with the best of them. In addition, he
was featured in a televised interview with MBC for Grambling's Homecoming
telecast just last week. A true Alzheimer's patient would not be able to
do that.

While we appreciate all of the concern for Coach Robinson's health, we
have not been pleased with how his condition has been depicted in the
media. With that, be careful what you read, hear, and pass on. Not all
media is 100% accurate.

--
Cherie W. Kirkland

:confused:

I know my grandmother and father had the disease. They too were able to talk about all kinds of things. :confused: Some days were good days, others were not. Nevertheless, God Bless Coach Rob! :D

Thanks for that. I got the above article from a Grambling alum.

Respecful props to Brother Eddie Robinson, another in the long, distingished line of Alpha Phi Alpha Men.

...way to blaze the trail and handle business, Bro. Robinson.

Prayers for a McKinley Panther
 

Coach Robinson is an outstanding individual. I will continue to pray for him and his family.

It's official. A statement was released by the family on yesterday. Coach Rob is deteriorating quickly. :(

That is very sad to hear. I'm a football fan and Coach Robinson is certainly an icon in the sports world.

Co-sign! He is a great man! My thoughts are with him and his family :(

Ditto

08/02/03
 

This story was dated yesterday. Our thoughts are with Coach Eddie Rob, our soror Doris Robinson and their family
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GRAMBLING, La. -- Eddie Robinson shuffles into the room, hunched over a cane - a shadow of the charismatic coach who made little Grambling State University famous.

Then he catches the eye of a visitor, and a familiar smile lights his face, just as it always has.

``I feel good,'' Robinson said, before drifting off into silence.

The smile is almost all that remains of one of the greatest coaches in college football history.

Once the most ebullient of men, Robinson has become quiet and distant as Alzheimer's disease isolates him from all that was once important to him.

``We tried to watch the Bayou Classic - he founded that game,'' said Robinson's wife, Doris, referring to the annual game between Grambling and archrival Southern played at the Superdome in New Orleans. ``But he couldn't stay with it.''

Alzheimer's is taking its toll. Robinson, 85, now sits quietly, answering questions with short replies or looks of consternation.

He retired in 1997 as the winningest coach in college football history with 408 victories at Grambling. Shortly after his 56-year coaching career at the historically black school ended, symptoms of the disease began to show.

``He just didn't feel too well,'' Doris said. ``Then it was like he was just slipping away. Every day a little more was gone.''

These days, Robinson lives in a gray twilight. His wife of 63 years and his son are the only things that break into his conscience.

``This is the hardest thing I've ever gone through in my life,'' Doris said. ``We had such a great marriage. We did everything with such enthusiasm. We had our kids, we had his football, and he took me with him all the way.''

Doris is still with the man she fell in love with when they were eighth-graders in a segregated school.

Robinson was selling newspapers and shining shoes to make money when Doris' aunt, on a visit to what was then called the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute, spoke to the school's president about her niece's fiance. The school needed a coach, and she suggested Robinson for the job.

Robinson scraped together the money to go to a coaching school in Chicago. Then he returned to Grambling and gave the football program and the little town an identity.

``When I go to conventions, everyone knows about Grambling because of Coach Rob,'' said Jean Smith, a longtime Grambling resident and friend of the Robinsons. ``Now that word about his condition is out, people ask about him.''

There was more to Robinson's career than his incredible record (408-165-15), however.

James Harris played quarterback for Robinson from 1965-69, before a long career in the NFL as a player and then an executive. He is now vice president of player personnel for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

``Most players that played for him truly felt he is the person outside their families that influenced them most,'' Harris said. ``You always hear about the football players he turned out, but he turned out a lot of doctors and lawyers and college graduates. Because of him, a lot of men can support families better because they got educations.''

Robinson spends his days in the red-brick house he and his wife built in 1953.

``He still comes to the table for meals, but he wants to go right back to bed,'' Doris said.

The couple's son, Eddie Jr., visits every day, helping his father walk around the house or taking him for car rides.

``He just gets tired quickly,'' the younger Robinson said.

People still visit the Robinson house almost daily - fans, reporters, former players.

``Most times they can't see him because he's in bed,'' Doris says. ``People still want him to autograph things, but he can't do that any more.''

The Robinson house is still full of memorabilia: pictures with players, coaches, Alabama coach Bear Bryant and President Clinton. Enough to fill two 18-wheelers has been put in storage. There's been talk of a museum for years.

``We're hopeful,'' Doris says. ``The state said they were going to build one.''

One memory, at least, remains for Robinson.

``He always wants me with him,'' Doris said. ``We still sleep together. Sometimes he calls me during the day: 'Babe, come here, I don't feel good.' And when I get there, there's nothing wrong. He just wants me there. So I lie down beside him and stay there.''

Re: 08/02/03
 

Now that's love

Very sad story for such a great person/coach to be afflicted with this.

This is very sad. Alzheimer's is the scariest disease. :( He always seemed like one of the good guys in sports. Thoughts going out to him and his family.

GO Grambling
 

I cried while reading this article. I really admire Coach Spears and the GSU 2004 football team for honoring Coach Robinson.