| Apr 4, 2007 @ 2:14 PM |
salute to a great man RIP
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sweet5red
Posts: 9,696
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although i am not a sports fan it saddens me to say we lost a great man.. coach eddie robinson grambling Louisiana passsed away last night at the age of 88.. RIP and god speed..Sweet N Louisiana
Grambling's Eddie Robinson Dies at 88
Football Coach a Pioneer in His Field
By MARY FOSTER
AP
RUSTON, La. (April 4) - Former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson, who created a football powerhouse at the small, black college in northern Louisiana that turned out hundreds of NFL players, has died. He was 88.
The soft-spoken coach spent nearly 60 years at Grambling State University, where he set a standard for victories with 408 and nearly every season saw his top players drafted by NFL teams.
Doug Williams, a Super Bowl MVP quarterback was one of them. Williams said Robinson died shortly before midnight Tuesday. Robinson had been admitted to Lincoln General Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
"For the Grambling family this is a very emotional time," Williams said Wednesday. "But I'm thinking about Eddie Robinson the man, not in today-time, but in the day and what he meant to me and to so many people."
Robinson's career spanned 11 presidents, several wars and the civil-rights movement. His older records are what people will remember: In 57 years, Robinson compiled a 408-165-15 record. Until John Gagliardi of St. John's, Minn., topped the victory mark four years ago, Robinson was known as the winningest coach in all of college football.
"The real record I have set for over 50 years is the fact that I have had one job and one wife," Robinson said.
Robinson had been suffering from Alzheimer's, which was diagnosed shortly after he was forced to retire following the 1997 season, in which he won only three games. His health had been declining for years and he had been in and out of a nursing home during the last year.
Robinson said he tried to coach each player as if he wanted him to marry his daughter.
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| Apr 6, 2007 @ 10:55 PM |
salute to a great man RIP |
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MetryTechie
Posts: 1,442
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He was a great coach, and more importantly, a great man. He will be missed, but his spirit will live on.
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