Matthew Gillette Robinson (born June 28, 1955) is a former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

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 with ...

player, a

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 ...

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 ...

(NFL) from 1977–1982 for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

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 headquart ...

, and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. He was later with the

Jacksonville Bulls The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League (USFL) during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985. They played their home games in the Gator ...

and

Portland Breakers The Portland Breakers were an American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Before moving to Portland, Oregon, the franchise was previously in Boston, Massachusetts as the Boston Breakers and ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, respectively.

College

Robinson played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

under head coach

Vince Dooley Vincent Joseph Dooley (September 4, 1932 – October 28, 2022) was an American college football coach. He was the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs from 1964 to 1988, as well as the University of Georgia's (UGA) athletic director from 1979 t ...

. His sophomore season in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

was his first as a starter and he led the Bulldogs to a 6–6 record. He threw for 8 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. Georgia improved the next season though Robinson's stats went down; they finished at 9–3 and were ranked 19th in the AP poll. In

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, Robinson's senior year, the Bulldogs went 10–1 in the regular season and were

ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

fifth, but lost the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

to national champion

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. When his college career concluded, Robinson finished with more interceptions (20) than touchdown passes (17).

Pro career

Despite Georgia being a run-oriented team, Robinson was selected by the

in the ninth round of the

1977 NFL Draft The 1977 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1977, at the Roosevelt Hotel ...

. With Richard Todd viewed as the quarterback of the future, Robinson was considered a "camp arm," a quarterback drafted only to get repetitions in practice so the incumbent starter doesn't get overworked in the preseason. Robinson defied the odds and made the team, and even got a start his rookie season, against 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 as ...

in week nine, but the Jets were shut out 17–0. Four games into the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

season, the Jets at 2–2, Todd was injured, and Robinson was pressed into service as the starter. The Jets lost his first start, but then won their next three and looked like a contender in the AFC East. Robinson made some big plays along the way, including a 75-yard strike to

Wesley Walker Wesley Darcel Walker (born May 26, 1955) is a former professional American football wide receiver who played for the New York Jets from 1977 to 1989. Walker graduated from Carson High School in Carson, California, where he set many recei ...

to upset the defending AFC champion

31–28 in week ten. Robinson's steady play along with an improved defense helped the Jets finish 8–8, a marked improvement over 1977's 4–12. For the year, Robinson passed for 2,002 yards and 13 TD's with 16 INT's. For the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

season, Todd was re-instated as the starter and Robinson stayed as backup for one more year before being traded to the Broncos in exchange for a second and first round pick and back-up quarterback

Craig Penrose Craig R. Penrose (born July 25, 1953) is a former professional American football quarterback. He spent five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Denver Broncos (1976–1979) and the New York Jets (1980) and 2 seasons with the ...

. In

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, Robinson started the first seven games for the Broncos over veteran

Craig Morton Larry Craig Morton (born February 5, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. He played college football at California, ...

. During that time, the Broncos went 4–3. Robinson only spent one season in Denver, moving on to Buffalo to serve as the understudy to

Joe Ferguson Joseph Carlton Ferguson Jr. (born April 23, 1950) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Arkansas. Early year ...

. Robinson then joined the

of the USFL. His time in Jacksonville ended when the Bulls acquired

Brian Sipe Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meani ...

. Robinson then moved on to the

and finished his career there. In 1985, his final season as a pro, he split time with Doug Woodward, a quarterback out of tiny Pace College, as the Breakers were struggling to find a new quarterback after starter Johnnie Walton retired. The Breakers failed to generate much of an offense and finished 6–12 and missed the postseason. In his final season, Robinson completed 156 passes on 310 attempts and threw 15 touchdowns and 20 interceptions for 2,182 yards.

Post NFL career

Robinson remains active with the NFLPA, helping players who have recently retired making the transition from being a professional athlete to the next chapter of their lives.

References

External links

Matt Robinson at NFL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Matt 1956 births Living people American football quarterbacks Boston/New Orleans/Portland Breakers players Buffalo Bills players Denver Broncos players Georgia Bulldogs football players Jacksonville Bulls players Jacksonville Jaguars announcers National Football League announcers New York Jets players People from Farmington, Michigan People from Sandy Springs, Georgia Players of American football from Fulton County, Georgia Players of American football from Oakland County, Michigan