 Robinson in 1953 | |||||||||||
| No. 18, 66 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positions | Middle guard,Offensive tackle | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1925-05-30)May 30, 1925 Lester Manor,Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Died | February 3, 2007(2007-02-03) (aged 81) Towson, Maryland, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight | 240 lb (109 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Maggie L. Walke (Richmond, Virginia) | ||||||||||
| College | Morgan State | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||
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Charles Rogers "Bull"Robinson (May 30, 1925 – February 3, 2007) was an Americanoffensive tackle and defensivemiddle guard who played for theGreen Bay Packers andBaltimore Colts of theNational Football League (NFL). He also wrestled professionally during the 1960s as part of a circuit that toured Texas and New England.
Robinson, anAfrican-American, was a part of the1951 Green Bay Packers team, that team's secondintegrated regular season roster of the post-color bar period.
Robinson was inducted into the Morgan State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974.
Charley Robinson was born in Lester Manor,Virginia, part ofKing William County, on May 30, 1925.[1] He grew up inRichmond.[1]
Robinson played college football for theMorgan State University, ahistorically black college inBaltimore, Maryland, where he was a member of two unbeaten teams, the 8–0 1949 and 6–0–2 1950 squads.[2]
Robinson was chosen as team captain by his peers at Morgan State ahead of his 1950 senior season and later won honors when he was named a member of theAll-Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association team,[2] essentially the All-America team for historically black colleges.
Robinson was also aboxer at the collegiate level, earning the title of heavyweight champion of the CIAA.[1] His skills were of sufficient proficiency that in June 1948 Robinson served as one of the sparring partners of top heavyweight boxerJersey Joe Walcott.[3]
Robinson played two years in theNational Football League (NFL), first making the roster of theGreen Bay Packers in1951 as atackle.[4] The1951 Green Bay Packers team was only the second time that black players were on the roster.[5]
Robinson was in camp ahead of the1952 season with thePhiladelphia Eagles, but did not land a spot on the team's final roster.[6]
In May 1953 Robinson signed afree agent contract with theBaltimore Colts.[2] He was with the team all through training camp, even projected as a defensive starter atmiddle guard by aBaltimore Evening Sun beat reporter,[7] but was ultimately unable to land a place on the team for the regular season.[8] Robinson was cut by head coachKeith Molesworth in the penultimate cut made on September 16.[9] Edging out Robinson on the Colts' roster were defensive linemenSisto Averno andJim Winkler.[9]
Fortunes changed in1954, however. In July Colts team president and acting general managerDon "Red" Kellett signed Robinson to another contract with the team.[10] This time, Robinson stuck as a defensive middle guard (nose tackle in a 5-man line), earning a spot on the club's 33-man roster. He ultimately saw action in six games for the Colts for the year, including all of his three careerstarts.[11] Robinson was one of just fourblack players on the 1954 Colts, along withHall of FamerBuddy Young, starhalfbackGeorge Taliaferro, andendMel Embree.[12]
In a rainy October 10 game against theChicago Bears, Robinson scored his only career touchdown when he recovered a first period fumble in the end zone, accounting for six of the Colt's nine points in a 28–9 loss.[13]
During the 1950s and 1960s, Robinson worked as a coach for the semi-proBaltimore Rams football team.[1] He also wielded the coaching clipboard for a team in the Baltimore Neighborhood Basketball League, the Starlites.[1]
While he was still at Green Bay in 1951, Robinson first learned about the opportunity for the poorly-paid NFL players of the day to earn money off the field as professional wrestlers.[1] He began to pursue wrestling as a career after his return to Baltimore, training at a local YMCA with fellow wrestlerFrank Veney[14] before joining a circuit that toured Texas andNew England.[1]
Over the course of his professional wrestling career, which launched in 1955 and ran for more than a decade, Robinson won a total of 70 matches.[1] Robinson wrestled as a"baby face" (good guy), mostly against"villains" (bad guys, also known as "heels").[14]
During his time wrestling, Robinson took a position with the Baltimore Department of Recreation and Parks, working first at that agency's Lafayette Center before being appointed as director of the John Eager Howard Recreation Center atReservoir Hill.[1]
He also opened Bull Robinson Liquors in Baltimore in the late-1960s, ultimately selling the shop in 1989.[1]
Robinson married the former Mazie Price in 1950, living with her until her death in 1973.[1] The couple raised a son.[1]
Robinson died ofcancer at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care inTowson, Maryland on February 3, 2007, at the age of 81.[1]
Robinson was inducted into the Morgan State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974.[1]