RUSTON, La. (AP) -Eddie Robinson’s widow beamed with joy as she made her first public appearance since her husband’s funeral, a ceremony to honor her family’s support of the Boys and Girls Club of North Central Louisiana.
“I’m so glad I could be here for this,” Doris Robinson said Saturday as she accepted a plaque. “This was great, for my first time out.”
Club director Eldonta Osborne organized Saturday’s event as part of a youth football camp taught by several coaches and former players at the Louisiana Tech practice fields. Activities came to a brief stop for the presentation, which found Doris Robinson encircled by youngsters.
Eddie Robinson Jr., her only son, said it was an emotional boost for him, too.
“Seeing these kids playing the game we love so much, it motivates us about the future. It does us some good,” said Robinson, who played for and then coached with his father.
Osborne and family friend Wilbert Ellis, a former baseball coach and athletic administrator at Grambling, presented the plaque.
Osborne said the camps carry the legacy of a man who coached Grambling for 57 years before retiring in 1997 with a Division I-record 408 wins. Robinson died on April 3 at age 88 from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease.
“Coach Robinson played a big role in getting this club going, and so did Mrs. Robinson – the first lady of football,” Ellis said. “This was in honor of everything he did, the lives he touched and the memories he made.”
Among those helping with the camp was Toriano Young, a former player on Robinson’s final teams at Grambling. He now volunteers at the Johnny Robinson Boys Home in Monroe, and brought along a group of youngsters to participate.
“I’ll never forget where I came from,” Young said. “(Coach Robinson) used to tell us to never stop dreaming, and now I tell these kids that.”
Not long after the plaque presentation, the group bounded back onto the football field, ready to get back to the business of shuttle runs and cone drills.
Doris Robinson lingered with family and friends, smiling as practice resumed and she remembered her husband’s love of coaching and youngsters.
“If there was anything he could ever do for young people,” Doris Robinson said, “he would. He had such a way with kids, almost like a pied piper. I hope this club continues to be a big success.”
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