Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

Comments

EarHustle411 and the writing staff came across this story and we felt compelled to share it.  College football fans particularly those who follow the HBCU teams and members of Black Greek Lettered Organizations would know about the life and legacy of the Late Doris Robinson.  She’s the wife of the Late Eddie Robinson, Coach of the Grambling State University football team.  Coach Robinson was one of the best who ever did it in college football and throughout his tenure as coach at GSU, his wife Doris was right by his side.  Although Doris had her own spotlight, she was the rock that held up Coach Robinson, a very rare connection found in marriages of today.

Doris Robinson, a teacher, wife, educator, confidant, counselor, disciplinarian, friend and most importantly a woman of poise, confidence and great stature. She will be truly missed.

EarHustle411 sends our sincerest condolences to the family, friends and members of Doris’ beloved sorority sisters of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. We pray for your strength and that God brings about a sense of peace during your time of bereavement.

Read more about the iconic Doris Robinson as reported by The News Star:

GRAMBLING — The casket of Doris Robinson perched atop a 4-foot stage, looked out to the 1,000 or so people at T.H. Harris Auditorium on Grambling State’s campus.

Between the casket was a pair of photos of Robinson staring out into the crowd, which served as a reminder that she was still watching out for all the lives she touched during the last 96 years.
Robinson, the wife of the late Eddie Robinson — one of the most respected football coaches in college football history — was laid to rest Thursday, signaling the end of an era and the beginning of a new start for the patriarch and matriarch of Grambling athletics.

“The impact that she had not out on the football field but what she had on this whole town and how she handled herself with class and grace,” said former Grambling quarterback and coach Doug Williams. “I think that’s the bottom line.”

Doris passed away last Wednesday at the age of 96, and family, friends and Grambling supporters celebrated her life Thursday during a two-hour long service. More than 10 individuals spoke at length about Doris and her impact on Grambling as former players like Williams, former quarterback Shaq Harris and basketball star Willis Reed soaked in all of her memories.

“She was that right hand. She was the person standing behind (Eddie Robinson) and always encouraging him,” said Reed, a former Grambling standout who went on to star in the NBA with the Knicks.

“I’m sure he went home some nights and had bad nights but he would let us see that, and I think she was the reason for that. She had that thing about her being so positive always that you never saw her down. I never heard her say anything negative about anything or anyone in public.”

Last week, Doris’ granddaughter Cherie Kirkland said Grambling, and Eddie Robinson for that matter, wouldn’t have had nearly the success it died without Doris’ footprint on things. Eddie Robinson went on to win 408 career games with Doris right there by his side.
Whether it was a game in Chicago, New York or Japan, Doris was always there.

“We went all across the country. There was not a time where we went when Mrs. Robinson wasn’t there,” Williams said. “We felt like we weren’t Grambling if she wasn’t traveling with us.”

Every speaker Thursday echoed Kirkland’s comments, with phrases used like “The First Lady of football,” “the glue to the program” and a “national icon.”
“She was a Louisiana treasure,” said Rep. Patrick O. Jefferson. “The world was made better when she came this way.”

Most of the moments were filled with laughs with only a few tears shed. It was a celebration, not a time of mourning.
The stories ranged from Doris’ role on Grambling football to her image.

“Her manners and the way she dressed was an image we all respected,” Harris said. “It made us a better team and made us better citizens once we left Grambling.”

Most of Thursday’s audience knew Doris, but those who didn’t had numerous anecdotes to digest.
Pauline Lee, a Robinson family friend, called Doris the First Lady of fashion, not just football.

“Doris knew when she looked good,” Lee said to a chorus of laughter from the crowd.

Lee also remembered her as a proud mother, grandmother and eventual great-grandmother. And if Doris’ love for her family wasn’t obvious, she’d let people know by showing picture after picture of her family.

Doris grew up in Baton Rouge and met Eddie in elementary school. The two stayed together through college and moved to Grambling when Eddie Robinson took over the program in 1941. They spent the next 66 years together until Eddie died in 2007.

“The pair of them was as fine as pair you could have at a school,” Harris said. “We’re lucky to have the opportunity to come to Grambling and let them be a part of our lives.”

In 66 years, the Robinsons helped put Grambling on the national map, sending players to the NFL and helping everyone else in the community succeed.
Doris taught social studies, public speaking and English for Lincoln Parish Schools. She always had a smile on her face, her family and friends said, but she wasn’t afraid to keep everyone in place.

Former Grambling baseball coach Wilbert Ellis remembered when he and some of his classmates, which he referred to as trouble, realized the type of no-nonsense woman she was.

“If you don’t behave I’ll tell my husband, Eddie,” Ellis recalled. “We knew she meant business.”

Keeping everyone in order at school carried over to life at home.
Jimmy Nicholson, who called her Aunt Doris, used the word “disciplinary extraordinaire” to describe her.
“She always won,” Nicholson said.
But her most redeeming quality, at least to Grambling players, was her role as a second mother.
When Harris made it to the NFL, he would often dial Eddie up to talk on almost a nightly basis. Sometimes Doris would answer the phone when Eddie had his own work to do for Grambling.

“Many nights I felt bad waking her up but she was always alert and always welcome and made me feel comfortable,” Harris said. “I was always encouraged by that.”

Once the laughs were let out, pastor Jerry Baldwin, who also doubles as a basketball coach at Living Word, repeatedly used the words “tear stained eyes and heavy hearts heal” while acknowledging the matriarch of Grambling was ready to go.

“Everybody will remember her along with coach Rob,” Reed said. “She actually enhanced the legacy of Eddie Robinson and Grambling.”

Source: The News Star