Friday, November 19, 2010

Book Review - Eddie Robinson by Denny Dressman


Title: Eddie Robinson “…he was the Martin Luther King of football.”
Author: Denny Dressman
Genre: Biography

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, The Naming Convention Challenge, Book Around the States Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, Read Your Own Books 2010, TBR Challenge 2010, Reading From My Shelves Project 2010, 100 + Reading Challenge, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: 373
Published: 2010


Back Cover: Eddie Robinson told everyone that “America is the greatest country in the world” and overcame racial discrimination with quiet, humble achievement. “to me, he was the Martin Luther King of football, “ said retired Jackson State coach W. C. Gorden, a long-time friend and adversary who joined Robinson in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. Thousands who paid tribute upon Robinson’s death in 2007 share Gorden’s view. Covering six decades, Robinson’s coaching career paralleled the Jim Crow era of segregation in the Deep South and every major event of the Civil Rights Movement. His historic tenure spanned 11 U.S. Presidencies and four wars involving American Troops – 57 years all at the same university: Grambling. His football teams won 408 games and nine black national championships, and played in 28 states and Tokyo, Japan. Robinson opened the National Football League to players from historically black colleges, and sent more than 200 players into pro football, including four members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This remarkable leader also sent thousands of athletes and students into society as educated, responsible, productive citizens. This story of his life is based on dozens of interviews and extensive research into six decades of football history and half-century of civil rights progress.


Mine: What a wonderful man Eddie Robinson, must have been. He sounds like a very strong man – he must have had to have been to live through the times he did, being a black man in the South. He also had to believe in the kindness of his fellow man. I had no idea that he also coach Basketball in the early years along with football.


He was a maker of men. He took young boys who played football and made them into respectful men. With all the wonderful championships that he won – this seems to be his greatest achievement. Grambling made a name for itself for the way they played football.

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