Robinson not hiding at Pro Bowl
Posted: Wednesday February 03, 1999 09:13 PM
| |
Family outing: Eugene Robinson's wife and two children made the trip to Hawaii Ezra O. Shaw/Allsport |
HONOLULU (AP) -- Eugene
Robinson waded into the group of autograph seekers, chatting and
signing the caps, footballs and assorted pieces of paper thrust at him.
A little later, he yelled at his son, "Good try, Brandon, atta boy,"
as the 9-year-old futilely tried to chase down a much bigger boy running
with the ball on the Pro Bowl practice field. Three days after a
nightmarish weekend that included being charged with soliciting an
undercover officer for sex and then getting burned for a key touchdown in
Atlanta's Super Bowl loss to Denver, Robinson was trying to get on with his
life. "The one thing I don't intend to do is cower and hide,"
the Falcons' safety said Wednesday after working out with the NFC all-star
squad. "That's not my personality. God made me a person who really likes
and cares about people. "I've been very encouraged by the
support I've received. My teammates and my friends, everybody has been very
supportive." Robinson's wife, Gia, their 11-year-old daughter
and son Brandon are with him in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. Asked
how everything is going with his family, Robinson replied, "It's good. I
think everything is going very well." He said that, on the
advice of his attorney, he would not answer questions about his arrest last
Saturday night for allegedly offering an undercover police officer $40 for
oral sex in a seamy area of Miami. After the mostly sleepless
night that followed, he started for the Falcons the next day and let the
Broncos' Rod Smith get
behind him for an 80-yard TD reception. His arrest around 9 p.m.
EST Saturday came just 12 hours after Robinson, nicknamed "The Prophet" for
his religious beliefs, received the 1999 Bart Starr Award from the
Christian group Athletes In Action, annually honoring an athlete of high
moral character. Robinson declared his innocence after the
arrest, but he still apologized publicly on Sunday. His Falcons
teammates at the Pro Bowl said they still consider Robinson an outstanding
man. "If you've ever been around Eugene for 15 minutes, you'd
realize what a great person he is," running back Jamal Anderson said. "We
still think about him, respect him, the same way we always have."
Linebacker Jesse Tuggle went to Robinson's room to speak with him Saturday
night after he heard of the arrest. "I talked with him, looked
him in the eyes and told him, `I still believe in you. You've got to go on
like it never happened.' We talked about everything we had done to get
where we were [in the Super Bowl], and what we had to do in the game,"
Tuggle said. Tuggle and Anderson said they don't think
Robinson's arrest, and the possible distraction, played any part in the
Falcons' 34-19 loss. "We went into the game absolutely the same
as we would have anyway," Tuggle said. Said Anderson: "I'd love
to be able to use that as an excuse, but it sure didn't affect anything in
terms of my running." Robinson, 35, is expected to be arraigned
on the misdemeanor count within the next 30 days. He could have the charges
dropped through a diversion program commonly offered in such cases. If he
is not offered pretrial intervention, Robinson could face a maximum penalty
of about 60 days if convicted. Robinson, in his third Pro Bowl,
has 53 career interceptions, tops among active players. The Super Bowl with
the Falcons was his third; he played in two for Green Bay.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
