Memory of coach 'lives on' with opening of Eddie G. Robinson Museum

The morning after he passed, a Wednesday, brought a jumble of emotions, as people celebrated Eddie Robinson — even as they mourned the long-time Grambling coach.

“I talked to a lot of teammates today, and we probably laughed more than anything,” said Doug Williams, former GSU quarterback and Robinson’s coaching successor, as tears welled up. “Today has been kind of a sad day, but also a celebration of the man.”

Williams wasn’t alone as he openly wept. In fact, he joined countless others who found themselves honestly unable to imagine the school, the town and their own lives without Robinson’s towering presence.

“Wow, this guy was bigger than life itself. He really impressed me by the way he handled himself, what he believed in and what he stood for,” said Pro Football Hall of Famer Willie Brown, a standout in the 1960s at Grambling for Rob. “He was a man of high class, a motivator and innovator. He loved his players. I couldn’t have learned from a better coach than Robinson.”

Robinson died late in the evening of April 3, 2007, and for too long it seemed that his most treasured contributions would remain trapped inside the memories of those he touched. That changed on February of this year, as the Eddie G. Robinson Museum was dedicated.

The facility reopens today with regular visiting hours for the public, and it brought me back to those first few terrible moments when we all began to realize what had been lost.

“I’m so empty,” New Orleans-native Tom Lavigne, a 1970s-era All-America defensive back at Grambling, told me in a phone conversation that day. “This is nothing compared to Katrina. I’d go through Katrina every day to not feel like this.”

As celebrated as he was in life, and that continued on a personal level long after his passing, several former players continued to insist that Robinson deserved more — and he’s finally receiving some of that long-overdue recognition inside the museum, located on the Grambling campus.

“There will never be another one like him,” said Everson Walls, who led the nation in picks for Rob in 1980 before a standout pro career. “There will never be another one that will do it the way he did it. He put Grambling on the map and made it a football powerhouse. But I never thought he got the respect he deserved. Even when the talent dried up, when black athletes starting going to white schools, he built champions on and off the field.”

The museum gives us another chance to examine that legacy, to remember it with others who were there, to share it with those too young to have known Coach Rob.

“When you talk about this legacy, we all know that Coach is still with us,” Williams said, after subsequently announcing the first of a series of donations for this project in the name of a charity he runs with fellow Grambling product James “Shack” Harris. “He might have gone on to heaven, but his contributions will live on. And this museum will let people know that.”

The Eddie G. Robinson Museum’s new regular hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Admission is free, though donations are accepted. The museum is closed on Sundays, Mondays and all state holidays — including Friday and Saturday, April 2-3, for Easter. For more information, call the museum at 318-274-2210.
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