Johnny Nolan Robinson (born September 9, 1938) is an American former professional football player. He was primarily a safety, but also played on offense as a halfback and flanker early in his career. He played college football for the LSU Tigers.
Robinson played his entire 12-year professional career with the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and later the National Football League (NFL). He led the AFL in interceptions with 10 in 1966, and led the NFL in 1970 with 10. He had 57 interceptions during his career. Robinson was W. T. "Dub" and Mattie Robinson's second son. Robinson was an All-State football, tennis, and baseball player in high school. He became starting fullback in his freshman year at University High School, Louisiana State University's (LSU) laboratory school located on LSU's campus in Baton Rouge.
Robinson and his older brother, Tommy, won the national Boys' Junior Tennis Championship when they were at U-High, where Dub Robinson was the LSU tennis coach from 1948 to 1974. Tommy was the superior tennis player and was inducted into the Louisiana Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015.
In 2019, University High retired Robinson's football number 44.
College career
Robinson committed to play college football at LSU, in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), under head coach Paul Dietzel. From 1957 to 1959, he would become one of the greatest two-way players in team history. In his junior season,1958, the Tigers won all ten games in the regular season. Then, on January 1, 1959, they won the Sugar Bowl over Clemson 7–0 (making them 11-0), further winning the national championship. Billy Cannon, the 1958 Heisman Trophy winner, was also on that team. LSU went 9–2 in 1959, and again played in the Sugar Bowl, on January 1, 1960, losing to Ole Miss. Robinson had a fractured hand and did not carry the ball once in that game.
In 1958, Robinson earned first-team All-SEC honors as a halfback, and in 1959, he was second-team All-SEC Conference. Over his three-year LSU career, the team was 25–7, and Robinson had 893 rushing yards, 453 receiving yards, and 14 touchdowns. and took novocaine injections to dull the pain for the Super Bowl. Late in the first half, he picked up a Minnesota fumble, and made an interception in the second half to help seal the win.
During his first two years in the AFL, Robinson played flanker on offense, rushing for 658 yards on 150 carries and had 1,228 receiving yards on 77 receptions, and fifteen touchdowns. Texans coach Hank Stram moved Robinson to safety after his second year, and he continued as a standout for ten of his twelve years. Robinson thus played in the sport's longest championship game in 1962, and in its absolute longest game, each game closing out professional football in its respective stadium.
After twelve seasons with the same franchise, Robinson retired at age 33 in July 1972, prior to training camp.
Legacy
Robinson was a five-time first-team All-AFL selection (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969), one-time first-team NFL All-Pro selection (1970), and one-time second-team All-AFL selection (1963). The Sporting News named him first-team All-AFC in 1971. He is a member of the All-time All-AFL Team and one of only 20 players who were in the AFL for its entire ten-year existence.
The Chiefs had a 35–1–1 record in games where Robinson made an interception. He is an inductee of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, and was elected into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in February , the ninth member inducted from the 1969 Chiefs. He is also a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
Career statistics
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="2"| Legend
|-
| style="background:#ffe6bd; width:3em;"|
| Won the AFL championship
|-
| style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|
| AFL & Super Bowl champion
|-
| style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"|
| Led the league
|-
| Bold
| Career high
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Year !! Team !! League !! GP !! Int !! Yds !! TD !! Lng
|-
! 1960 || DAT || AFL
| 14 || — || — || — || —
|-
! 1961 || DAT || AFL
| 14 || — || — || — || —
|-
! 1962 || style="background:#ffe6bd; width:3em;"| DAT || AFL
| 14 || 4 || 25 || 0 || 20
|-
! 1963 || KC || AFL
| 14 || 3 || 41 || 0 || 19
|-
! 1964 || KC || AFL
| 10 || 2 || 17 || 0 || 17
|-
! 1965 || KC || AFL
| 14 || 5 || 99 || 0 || 50
|-
! 1966 || style="background:#ffe6bd; width:3em;"| KC || AFL
| 14 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| 10 || 136 || 1 || 29
|-
! 1967 || KC || AFL
| 14 || 5 || 17 || 0 || 10
|-
! 1968 || KC || AFL
| 14 || 6 || 40 || 0 || 16
|-
! 1969 || style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| KC || AFL
| 14 || 8 || 158 || 0 || 33
|-
! 1970 || KC || NFL
| 14 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| 10 || 155 || 0 || 57
|-
! 1971 || KC || NFL
| 14 || 4 || 53 || 0 || 29
|-
! colspan="3"| Career !! 164 !! 57 !! 741 !! 1 !! 57
|}
Personal and later life
Robinson became an ordained minister in 1979. He founded and operates a youth home called Johnny Robinson's Boys Home for troubled boys in Monroe, Louisiana, and has been a long-time supporter of children's causes.