Grambling State Football Coach Eddie Robinson Gave Young Blacks the Will and Means to Succeed

Summary

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At age 22, [Eddie Robinson] joined Grambling in 1941 as a coach for the football program as well as men's and women's basketball. He also taught physical education and served as the football team's bus driver, uniform launderer, field keeper and publicist.

Some of Robinson's ability to leverage money for Grambling's program stemmed from his friendship with former Purdue University assistant football coach and nowNew York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. As [Allen Barra] points out, Robinson actually played a role in getting the Yankee owner to underwrite the Whitney M. Young Jr. Urban League Classic game that has raised more than $2 1 million in scholarships for more than 4,000 students after tight finances prevented the New York Urban League from doing so. The Yankees' owner continued his support even after the game moved to Giants Stadium in 1987, according to Barra.

To put his football powerhouse on me national radar screen, Robinson took his team on the road in 1968. The tour, which coincided with the release of a documentary entitled "Grambling College: 100 Yards to Glory" produced by the late Howard Cosell, helped catapult the college's football program into the spotlight on all three major television networks. The team's growing fame prompted countless young Black football players to follow in their steps and be coached by Robinson.

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Grambling State Football Coach Eddie Robinson Gave Young Blacks the Will and Means to Succeed

To some extent, Eddie Robinson, the former Grambling University football coach who died last month, had his own Urban League operating out of the small majority Black college. In addition to teaching his students how to excel in...

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