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First and Goal for Eddie Robinson Museum

By Jerome Hubbard
Black College Wire

Something monumental is taking place around the campus of Grambling State University: planning for the permanent Eddie Robinson Museum honoring the legacy of the legendary coach.

robinsonmuseum.com Rendering of the inside of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum, planned since 1999.

"We are on the right track," former baseball coach Wilbert Ellis said. "I know that we have everything in perspective to get everything going."

The museum is to be located in the Women's Memorial Gymnasium and contain pictures, plaques, trophies and other memorabilia in honor of Coach Robinson, who died at age 88 on April 3.

"We hope that on the 26th of this month we will get an approval for the building," Ellis said. "We are 100 percent certain that we will get it done."

The National Football Foundation honored Robinson in 1992 with its Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award. When he retired, the organization inducted him into the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1997, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner named one of the foundation's national scholar-athlete awards after Robinson.

Robinson's career spanned 11 presidents, several wars and the civil rights movement. He compiled a 408-165-15 record, won 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and nine national black college championships, and in the process sent more than 200 athletes to the NFL. He also was inducted into every hall of fame for which he was eligible, and received honorary degrees from several universities, including Yale.

Robinson's last game was in 1997, and the museum has been in the planning stages since 1999. The cost to renovate the museum's permanent site is estimated at $3 million to $4 million. The effort has been slowed by budget cuts and disagreements over the location.

According to the Associated Press, Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said the University of Louisiana System Board was in the process of transferring the Women's Gym to the museum foundation.

"It has the potential to be one of the larger attractions in our state," Dardenne told the Associated Press. "It's something that should happen sooner rather than later."

Darryl D. Smith/the Gramblinite Wilbert Ellis, former Grambling State University baseball coach, closes his reflection at the Eddie G. Robinson funeral at Grambling. "We are on the right track," Ellis said of plans for the Robinson museum.

At Robinson's funeral on April 11, Dardenne pledged that the museum would be completed, but members of the Grambling family have grown inpatient with the delay. "It is long overdue," said Coach Ellis.

"We have to honor the man, who was a true American. We want to make sure that we do something real nice for this man on the campus; it would be outstanding. The timing is great right now," he said.

"It is not only important but it is vital," said Santoria Black, Grambling Sports Radio Network director. "It is crucial when you talk about a man who is celebrated not only in the state of Louisiana, but all across the world. It has to be done."

For now, the Eddie Robinson Museum is located in the Athletic Support Facility on Grambling's campus, and it is open to the public. No official date has been released for the opening of the permanent museum.

More information about the museum can be found at www.robinsonmuseum.com

Jerome Hubbard, a student at Grambling State University, writes for the Gramblinite. To comment, e-mail [email protected]

Posted April 20, 2007