Pro Player Insiders' Hall of Fame Tribute: Dave Robinson - Pro Player Insiders Executive Editor Melissa Mahler

Photo Credit Ed Runyon — Dave Robinson HOF Speech
Photo by Ed Runyon

The seven new members of the NFL Hall of Fame are no strangers to winning. With a combined total of 8 Super Bowls, only one inductee didn’t have the opportunity to hoist the Lombardi Trophy during their career. For a select few retired NFL players the Super Bowl and the Lombardi Trophy itself have more meaning than just separating a team from the rest at the end of each season. One distinct player out of the Hall of Fame Class of 2013 is fortunate enough to understand the deeper meaning. The reason he can understand how special this trophy actually is? He knows the man it was named after, and even better than that, he played for him.

Dave Robinson’s road to the Hall of Fame is one that has been a long awaited journey for him. Robinson, alongside Curley Culp was one of the two inductees nominated by the Seniors Committee of the Hall of Fame. Robinson was a part of a Green Bay Packers team that arguably may have been one of the best teams to ever play the game of football. Now Robinson gets to join Green Bay legends, Bart Starr, Jim Ringo Ray Nitschke and many other Packers who played during the Lombardi era, and trust me there were plenty.

“Kevin and Jim Ringo, he was on the championship teams,” said Robinson during his enshrinement speech. “Willie Davis and Herb Adderley, and next to them was Ray Nitschke, and behind me sometimes was Willie Wood. It was possible that you could lineup in an all formation, and there would be five, five Hall of Famers all on the left side all at one time.”

Dave Robinson grew up in Mount Holly, New Jersey where he attended Moorestown High School and won a State Championship in football and two State Championships in basketball. He chose to attend Penn State University to play football under head coach Rip Engle and assistant coach Joe Paterno. During his time at Penn State he played on both sides of the ball and helped lead Penn State to wins in the Liberty Bowl in 1960 and Gator Bowl in 1961. In 1962 Penn State lost the in the Gator Bowl, but Robinson still managed to win the MVP of the game. In the same year Robinson was also recognized as an All-American, College Player of the Year, and College Lineman of the Year.

Drafted in the first round of the 1963 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, Robinson was a strongly desired commodity as he was also drafted in the third round of the AFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. Robinson chose to play for the Packers, which was undoubtedly one of the best choices he ever made. Robinson joined a NFL dynasty in Green Bay that went on to win the first two Super Bowls in the history of the league and had arguably the best coach to ever coach the game, Vince Lombardi.

Along with the two Super Bowls, Robinson racked up three Pro Bowls, was named All-Pro second team twice and first team All-NFL selection for three years in a row during his 10 seasons at Green Bay. Dave Robinson moved on from Green Bay and retired after a two-year stint with the Washington Redskins, but make no mistake Titletown is where his heart still lies.

“I tell you, the Green Bay Packer organization is one of the greatest in the world. Everybody in the Green Bay Packer organization is dedicated to football. They want nothing but the best football. They wanted nothing but the best from their ballplayers, and they wanted to give the fans the best football possible.”