Eugene Keefe Robinson (born May 28, 1963) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) for 16 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 1985. In addition to his 11 seasons with the Seahawks, he was a member of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

and Atlanta Falcons for two seasons each, and the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

for one season. During his Seattle tenure, Robinson was named to two

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

s and led the league in interceptions in 1993. Robinson's two seasons with the Packers saw him reach the Super Bowl in both years and win

Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

. With the Falcons, he earned a third Pro Bowl selection and made a third consecutive Super Bowl appearance.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

After playing college football at Colgate University, Robinson spent his first 11 NFL seasons with the Seahawks, being selected to the

twice in 1992 and 1993. Robinson is the Seahawks' 2nd all-time tackle leader and second in interceptions.

Green Bay Packers

After the

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

season, Robinson signed with the Packers. That year, he recorded 55 tackles and led Green Bay with eight interceptions. After the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

season, the Packers went on to win

35–21, over his hometown team, the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, earning Robinson a

championship ring A championship ring or premiership ring is a ring presented to members of winning teams in North American professional sports leagues, and college tournaments. Championship rings are mostly confined to North American sports. Since only one ...

. Then again, after the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

season, Robinson and the Packers went to

Super Bowl XXXII Super Bowl XXXII was an American football game played between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1997 Green Bay Packers season, Green Bay Packers (who were defending their Super Bowl XXXI championship) and the American Football Conf ...

, however they lost 31–24, to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

. With his team trailing 24–17 in the third quarter, Robinson intercepted a pass from Broncos

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

John Elway John Albert Elway Jr. (born June 28, 1960) is an American professional football executive and former quarterback who is the president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Elway played college f ...

in the end zone, preventing Denver from building a bigger lead and setting up a touchdown on Green Bay's ensuing drive to tie the game. He also recorded an interception of

Steve Young Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccan ...

that set up a touchdown in the Packers 23–10 win over the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the NFC title game two weeks prior.

Atlanta Falcons

After the 1997 season, Robinson joined the Atlanta Falcons in 1998. During the season, Robinson recorded 46 tackles, two fumble recoveries, four interceptions, and one touchdown return, earning his third career Pro Bowl selection. After making a game-saving play in the NFC Championship game (breaking up an otherwise certain winning touchdown to

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

wide receiver

Randy Moss Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee T ...

), Robinson made it to his third consecutive Super Bowl, facing the Broncos for the second straight season. The night prior to

Super Bowl XXXIII Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos (who were also defending their Super Bowl XXXII championship) and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion At ...

, Robinson was arrested by an undercover police officer for soliciting a prostitute. Earlier that day, Robinson received the Athletes in Action/Bart Starr Award, given annually to a player who best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community. After the arrest, Robinson agreed to return the award. The next day, without much sleep the night before due to the prostitution incident, Robinson gave up an 80-yard touchdown reception to Broncos receiver

Rod Smith Rod, Rodney or Roderick Smith may refer to: Sports * Rod Smith (sportscaster), sportscaster with The Sports Network * Rodney Smith (skateboarder), American skateboarder, co-founder of Zoo York * Rodney Smith (cricketer) (born 1944), English cricket ...

, giving the Broncos a 17–3 lead over the Falcons. Later, in the fourth quarter, he missed a tackle on Denver running back

Terrell Davis Terrell Lamar Davis (born October 28, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2001. He is the Broncos all-time leading rusher and ...

that enabled Davis to break a long run to the Atlanta 10-yard line. The Atlanta Falcons ended up losing the game, 34–19, and Robinson was widely denounced by the press and fans for the previous night's incident. The next season was Robinson's last with the Falcons.

Carolina Panthers

After leaving the Falcons, Robinson joined the

, and retired following the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

season.

Career summary

In his 16 seasons, Robinson recorded 1,415 tackles, 57

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s, 762 return yards, 22 fumble recoveries, 71 return yards, and two touchdowns (one fumble return, one interception return), and 7.5 sacks. His 57 interceptions have been exceeded by just 11 players, four of whom are in the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...

Coaching and broadcasting career

Robinson served as a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and th ...

for the

Radio Network from 2002-18. He currently serves as a varsity football and wrestling coach at Charlotte Christian School in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. Beginning in January 2015, Robinson is a co-host of the morning television show ''Charlotte Today'' on

WCNC-TV WCNC-TV (channel 36) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with NBC. The station is owned by Tegna Inc. WCNC-TV's studios are located in the Wood Ridge Center office complex off Billy Graham Parkway (C ...

, Charlotte, NC.

Personal life

Robinson is a Christian and spoke with the Carolina Panthers team before Super Bowl 50.

References

External links

Stats at Database football
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Eugene 1963 births Living people American Conference Pro Bowl players American football safeties Atlanta Falcons players Carolina Panthers announcers Carolina Panthers players Colgate Raiders football players Green Bay Packers players High school football coaches in North Carolina High school wrestling coaches in the United States National Conference Pro Bowl players National Football League announcers Players of American football from Hartford, Connecticut Seattle Seahawks players Sportspeople from Hartford, Connecticut Ed Block Courage Award recipients