Raiders LB Robinson Had an Eagle Eye
Linebacker Jerry Robinson’s greatest seasons were behind him when he went to the Los Angeles Raiders in 1985, but he still had seven good years in Silver and Black.
The 6-2, 218-pound Robinson was a three-time All-American at UCLA who was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round (No. 21 overall) of the 1979 National Football League Draft and became an instant starter and a star.
Robinson was selected to the 1979 NFL All-Rookie team before receiving All-Pro honors in 1980, 1981, and 1982 and playing in the 1981 Pro Bowl.
While we don’t know how many tackles Robinson made because they were not an official NFL statistic at the time, there were plenty, and he also intercepted six passes and recovered 11 fumbles in his six seasons in Philadelphia.
One of the games he played in his career with the Eagles was Super Bowl XV against the Raiders at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, where the game’s Most Valuable Player, quarterback Jim Plunkett, led the Silver and Black to a 27-10 victory.
“Playing in the Super Bowl XV as an Eagles against the Raiders was one of the highlights of my NFL career because I have always been a Raiders fan,” said Robinson, who grew up in Santa Rosa, Calif., where the Raiders held training camp every season. “It was one of the most exciting things for me.
“We were locked down in the hotel, so I’m watching TV, and there’s the sports segment coming on, and they said: ‘We’re going to go downtown in Bourbon Street with the Oakland Raiders,'” Robinson recalled of the days before the game in New Orleans. “They show Bourbon Street with (Raiders defensive end) John Matuszak sitting there and drinking two hurricane drinks. We can’t even get out of the room.
“That’s one of the things I remember about it and I do remember the way it ended. It’s a great experience to get to a Super Bowl. If you win it, it’s great. If you don’t, it’s like a lifetime of just a bad dream.
“Every time I see Jim (Plunkett) and his kids, his wife wants to thank me and the Philadelphia Eagles for his Super Bowl Mercedes Benz he got for being MVP.”
Robinson played three more seasons with the Eagles before they told him they would trade him.
That’s when he went to the Raiders and returned to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
“Where do you want to go?” somebody in the Eagles front office asked Robinson. “I said: ‘The Raiders.’ He said: ‘Give me your second choice.’ I said: ‘The Raiders.’ He said: “Third choice.” I said: ‘The Raiders.’ The Raiders have always been the team I wanted to go to, and I was able to get to the Raiders because I had an issue with what was going on with the Eagles.
“As a young kid watching the Raiders come into my hometown for training camp, I became a part of them. I went inside the locker room for the first time as a Raider, and no one else was in there. I looked around the Raider locker room and put on my helmet, and cried. It was a spiritual experience.
“The thing of it was, they were no longer the Oakland Raiders; they were the L.A. Raiders."
Al Davis told Robinson: “I don’t care what you do the rest of the time, just play hard for me on Sunday, that’s all I care about. I just want to win.”
And Robinson did play hard for the last seven seasons of his career in Los Angeles; even though no more honors were coming his way, as he made 70 starts in 97 games and contributed his share of tackles while making 11 sacks, six pass interceptions for 72 yards in returns and four fumble recoveries.
Jerry Robinson understood what it meant to wear the Silver and Black.
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