Kenny Robinson's Story Answers Some Questions, Raises New Ones
One of the former West Virginia players expected to be taken in the NFL Draft Thursday night has taken a rather circuitous path to the league. After leaving the program under disciplinary circumstances and winding up in the XFL, he is looking to finish that path at the next level.
In a letter to the Players Tribune, he has addressed his past and future to the general managers of the league. After being named First Team All-Big 12 in 2018, Robinson was expected to explode in 2019.
That's when it all came crashing down.
Eighteen months ago, his mother suffered the first of two strokes, the beginning of a journey that led to her diagnosis with colon cancer and Robinson's decision to support his family at all costs,. In the process, according to him, he lost his focus.
By his own account, he began to allow a friend to help with his classes, all of which are online. While back home attending the funeral of a neighborhood friend, a class assignment of Robinson's was submitted when he was supposed to be in a team meeting.
The proverbial alarm bells went off for the university and the Office of Student Conduct began investigating Robinson for academic dishonesty. By the end of spring practice, he was expelled from West Virginia University.
After talking to some schools, he decided to head to the XFL and immediately obtain financial support for his mother rather than sit out a year as a transfer. Picked in the fifth round of the XFL draft by the St. Louis Battlehawks, he became a professional.
In five games, he tallied 21 tackles, two interceptions and a sack. Now, with the chance to head to the NFL at his fingertips, Kenny Robinson is telling his story on his own terms.
Robinson's letter finally answers some of the questions that Mountaineer fans have been debating over the last year. He does not indict the university for its decision to bar him from school and actually owns up to the mistakes he made in that final 18 months he was a Mountaineer.
Before his departure, Robinson gave the public no reason to believe he would cause any problems for West Virginia football. In his account, he was a desperate young man who going through the most difficult period of his life to that point.
His decisions came back to bite both him and the Mountaineers, but it now appears that each has a bright future after a fresh start. However, it seems his case may be symptomatic of the issues we see faced by collegiate athletes today.
The fact that all of his classes were online components comes across as questionable. Neal Brown has alluded to adjustments being made on the academic side since he arrived in Morgantown.
On one hand, it can be argued that the demanding schedules of college athletes makes it difficult to take classes live on campus. On the other hand, that makes it much easier for academic dishonesty to occur like it did with Kenny Robinson.
Finally, it appears that Robinson became a victim of his own circumstances and made a poor choice to try to solve the problem. As the NCAA continues to debate the pros and cons of compensating players for their name and likeness, this is a case that could have a major impact.
The reason Robinson chose to leave college was to support his sick mother and help provide for his family. Would he have made a different decision if he could have made money for himself in college?
We may never know but it is something that has to be considered. This is not the time or place to delve into the NCAA's amateurism issues but this story is clearly one that is affected by those problems.
Not every college athlete has the same background or story. Kenny Robinson's is different from any other that West Virginia or the NCAA has ever seen.
With his NFL prospects looking good heading into the draft, that story is far from ending and could have a larger effect on the future decisions made by the governing body of college athletics.
