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| No. 42 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Positions | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1938-09-09)September 9, 1938 (age 87) Delhi, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school | University(Baton Rouge, Louisiana) | ||||||||||||||||
| College | LSU | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1960: 1st round, 3rd overall pick | ||||||||||||||||
| AFL draft | 1960: 1st round | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||
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Johnny Nolan Robinson (born September 9, 1938) is an American former professionalfootball player. He was primarily asafety, but also played on offense as ahalfback andflanker early in his career. He playedcollege football for theLSU Tigers.
Robinson played his entire 12-year professional career with theDallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of theAmerican Football League (AFL) and later theNational Football League (NFL). He led the AFL ininterceptions with 10 in1966, and led the NFL in1970 with 10. He had 57 interceptions during his career.[1] Robinson is a2019 inductee to thePro Football Hall of Fame, becoming the ninth member of the Chiefs'Super Bowl IVchampionship team to be inducted.
Born inDelhi, Louisiana on September 9, 1938,[1] Robinson was W. T. "Dub" and Mattie Robinson's second son.[2] Robinson was an All-State football, tennis, and baseball player in high school. He became starting fullback in his freshman year atUniversity High School,Louisiana State University's (LSU) laboratory school located on LSU's campus inBaton Rouge.[2][3] He played in the 1956 Louisiana high school All-Star football game, along with future college teammateBilly Cannon.[4]
Robinson and his older brother, Tommy, won the national Boys' Junior Tennis Championship when they were at U-High, whereDub Robinson was the LSU tennis coach from 1948 to 1974. Tommy was the superior tennis player and was inducted into the Louisiana Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015.[2][3]
In 2019, University High retired Robinson's football number 44.[5]
Robinson committed to play college football at LSU, in theSoutheastern Conference (SEC), under head coachPaul Dietzel. From 1957 to 1959, he would become one of the greatest two-way players in team history. In his junior season,1958, the Tigers won all ten games in the regular season. Then, on January 1, 1959, they won theSugar Bowl overClemson 7–0 (making them 11-0), further winning thenational championship. Billy Cannon, the 1958Heisman Trophy winner, was also on that team. LSU went 9–2 in 1959, and again played in theSugar Bowl, on January 1, 1960, losing toOle Miss. Robinson had a fractured hand and did not carry the ball once in that game.[2][6][7][8][9]
In 1958, Robinson earned first-team All-SEC honors as a halfback, and in 1959, he was second-team All-SEC Conference. Over his three-year LSU career, the team was 25–7, and Robinson had 893 rushing yards, 453 receiving yards, and 14 touchdowns.[6] In a 1958 game againstTulane, Robison had four touchdowns in the second half, andUnited Press International named him Back Of The Week.[2]
Also while at LSU, he won the 1958 SEC tennis championship in singles, and SEC doubles championship with his brother Tommy.[6]
In 2019, Robinson was LSU's SEC Football Legend.[6]
In1960, Robinson was selected by theDallas Texans (who later became theKansas City Chiefs) in the first round of the1960 AFL draft, and selected third overall by theDetroit Lions in the1960 NFL draft.[10] He chose the Texans. In his third season, theTexans won the1962 AFL title with a 20–17 double-overtime victory over the two-time defending AFL championHouston Oilers in the longest professional football league championship game ever played. Robinson had two interceptions. The dramatic game was watched by millions on television, and played an important part in creating the grounds for an AFL-NFL merger.[11][12]
Robinson played in thefirstSuper Bowl in early1967, a loss to theGreen Bay Packers in which Robinson had 9 tackles.[3] Three years later inSuper Bowl IV, the underdogChiefs decisively defeated theMinnesota Vikings, 23–7. Robinson played that game with three broken ribs he received in theprevious game,[13] and took novocaine injections to dull the pain for the Super Bowl.[14] Late in the first half, he picked up a Minnesota fumble, and made an interception in the second half to help seal the win.[15]
During his first two years in the AFL, Robinson played flanker on offense, rushing for 658 yards on 150 carries and had 1,228 receiving yards on 77 receptions, and fifteen touchdowns.[10][12] Texans coach Hank Stram moved Robinson to safety after his second year, and he continued as a standout for ten of his twelve years.[10][1]
His last game came onChristmas Day1971, when the Chiefs lost to theMiami Dolphins 24–27 after 22 minutes and forty seconds of overtime. Robinson suffered a career-ending injury that game, which remains the longest game in NFL history, as of 2024, and the last NFL game inMunicipal Stadium.[16][17][18] Robinson thus played in the sport's longest championship game in 1962, and in its absolute longest game, each game closing out professional football in its respective stadium.
After twelve seasons with the same franchise, Robinson retired at age 33 in July1972, prior to training camp.[19]
Robinson was a seven-time first-team All-Pro and three-time second-team All-Pro selection. He is a member of theAll-time All-AFL Team and one of only 20 players who were in the AFL for its entire ten-year existence.[20][12] He is one of only three players (with Hall of FamersJim Otto andRon Mix) who were on the All-AFL first-team and the combined AFL/NFL All-Decade Team for the 1960s.[21]
The Chiefs had a 35–1–1 record in games where Robinson made an interception.[22] He is an inductee of theLouisiana Sports Hall of Fame, and was elected into thePro Football Hall Of Fame in February2019, the ninth member inducted from the 1969 Chiefs.[15] His bust at Canton was sculpted byScott Myers. Later that year, he was recognized as anSEC Football Legend for LSU.[23] He is also a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.[1]
After he retired as a player, Robinson was a scout for the Chiefs untilHank Stram was fired in 1974. He then coached defensive backs for theJacksonville Express of theWorld Football League in 1975. The league folded that year, and he became a scout for theNew Orleans Saints, again under Stram.[24]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theAFL championship | |
| AFL &Super Bowl champion | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | League | GP | Int | Yds | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | DAT | AFL | 14 | — | — | — | — |
| 1961 | DAT | AFL | 14 | — | — | — | — |
| 1962 | DAT | AFL | 14 | 4 | 25 | 0 | 20 |
| 1963 | KC | AFL | 14 | 3 | 41 | 0 | 19 |
| 1964 | KC | AFL | 10 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| 1965 | KC | AFL | 14 | 5 | 99 | 0 | 50 |
| 1966 | KC | AFL | 14 | 10 | 136 | 1 | 29 |
| 1967 | KC | AFL | 14 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 10 |
| 1968 | KC | AFL | 14 | 6 | 40 | 0 | 16 |
| 1969 | KC | AFL | 14 | 8 | 158 | 0 | 33 |
| 1970 | KC | NFL | 14 | 10 | 155 | 0 | 57 |
| 1971 | KC | NFL | 14 | 4 | 53 | 0 | 29 |
| Career[10] | 164 | 57 | 741 | 1 | 57 | ||
Robinson became an ordained minister in 1979. He founded and operates a youth home called Johnny Robinson's Boys Home for troubled boys inMonroe, Louisiana, and has been a long-time supporter of children's causes.[25][26]