Rex Robinson (born March 17, 1959) is a

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

that played for the Marietta Blue Devils,

University of Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

of the Southeastern Conference and 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 ...

of 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). Originally from

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

, Robinson grew up watching the NFL’s latest curiosities, soccer style kickers, such as Jan Stenerud, Garo Yepremian, and Pete and Charlie Gogalak on television each Sunday and then tried to imitate what he saw them doing. By the time he reached high school, he was receiving a great deal of attention. As a 15-year-old on Marietta’s JV team, Robinson kicked a 51-yard field goal in a game. A local news station sent a crew out to verify the feat. It took a few tries, but Robinson duplicated the kick for the camera and was on the 6 o’clock news that night. As a senior, Robinson received several scholarship offers but chose 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 ...

. He would have the chance to play as a freshman, and UGA seemed the perfect distance from home. Robinson was the team's leading scorer and made the All-SEC Freshman Team in 1977. He would make 1st team All-SEC in 1978, 1979 & 1980 and Playboy All-American in 1979 and 1980. Robinson also made the Walter Camp, Football News, Football Writer’s, and UPI All-American teams in 1980. He was invited to play in the 1981 Senior Bowl. The highlight of his senior year was beating Notre Dame in the

1981 Sugar Bowl The 1981 Sugar Bowl was the 47th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Thursday, January 1. Part of the 1980–81 bowl game season, it matched the undefeated and top-ranked ...

and the Bulldogs being named the ''1980 National Champion'' football team. Robinson finished with several SEC records, including the single-season FG% at 88.2%, career points (269), career field goals (56) and consecutive extra points (101). The last two categories were second in NCAA history at the time. He also had six FGs over 50 yards, with two 57-yarders in 1980. He was drafted by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

in the 6th round in 1981. He played for the

in the strike-shortened season of 1982.NFL profile
/ref> Robinson was honored in 2007 as The University of Georgia’s representative at the SEC Legends Dinner as a part of the SEC Championship weekend. Robinson sells sporting goods, athletic and corporate apparel for Pro Sports Team Outfitters in Atlanta. He has also worked with hundreds of young kickers since 1996, and several have gone on to play on the collegiate level. He now has a kicking instruction service called Total Kicker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Rex 1959 births Living people American football placekickers Georgia Bulldogs football players New England Patriots players Players of American football from Marietta, Georgia All-American college football players