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The Red and Black
Thursday. April 22,1982
Robinson takes final shot at pro career
Robinson even had a weight problem as a Bulldog
By EDLEGGE
Km) and Mark SUff Writer
The waitress pushed the cup of coffee
across the counter to Rex Robinson, looked up
at him and asked, "Would you like sugar?"
But before she could get the last syllable out
of her mouth, Robinson said, “Sweet ‘n’
Low.”
The choice of sweeteners may not sound
like Rex Robinson, who as one of the greatest
kickers in NCAA history became almost as
notorious for his off-season weight problems
as his game-winning field goals
But this is a different Rex Robinson,
because for one of the few times in his football
career, the odds are against him Cut by the
Cincinatti Bengals last year, Robinson signed
as a free agent with the Denver Broncos in
late February But to make the team, he'll
have to beat out veteran Fred Steinfort, who
was 12-for-15 in the second half of the 1981
season.
Robinson is determined not to make the
same mistake he made in 1981, when he show
ed up for the Bengals’ camp overweight and
overconfident and ended up unemployed And
so far, he’s succeeding. Through his member
ship in Weight Watchers and a daily exercise
program, he’s gotten down to 220, his college
playing weight, and he plans to weight less
than 200 when he reports to the Broncos'
camp this summer By then, Robinson also
plans to be kicking five times a week. Com
pared to his winter 1981 regimen — an occa
sional racquetball game and kicking
workouts maybe once a month — it's obvious
Robinson is taking his second try at the pros a
lot more seriously than the first.
“To be able to make it and have a career in
the NFL, I can be in nothing short of the best
shape physically and mentally I've ever been
in," he says, ‘i'll have to maintain it That's
going to be the test — I’ve never been able to
maintain it.”
Robinson never reached that level on his
first attempt to play pro ball He showed up at
camp eight pounds too heavy, for which he
was fined $200. But not only was his body too
big, his ego was inflated as well.
“I thought all I had to do was show up,” he
recalls. “I felt like I was the favorite —
everybody acted like I was the shoo-in."
Everybody, that is, except Jim Breech,
then a journeyman kicker who signed with the
Bengals in late 1980, in time to win two games
with last-minute field goals. Breech had train
ed extensively In the off-season, and he easily
out-kicked Robinson In camp
Nobody knew It better than Rex. “I felt like
if he had gotten cut and I made It, It would've
been wrong, because his kicking was ex
cellent I wouldn't have quit the team had I
made it, but I felt like he deserved it."
Robinson fell that way because he kicked in
streaks in camp. “I couldn't make a 30-yard
field goal consistently," he says. “One day,
I'd kick a couple from sixty yards, the next
day I couldn’t make it from 30."
Sounds strange coming from a kicker who
made 101 consecutive PATs while at Georgia.
But in college, Robinson kicked off a two- inch
tee, a luxury not afforded kickers in the NFL.
Besides his total unpreparedness, it was one
of the main reasons he failed to make the
transition from college to the pros.
The key to successful place-kicking is get
ting the foot under the ball, which is easy to do
when it's already two inches off the ground on
a tee When the hall’s on the ground, however,
the sweet spot is a lot smaller and much more
difficult to strike. Thus the margin for error is
increased.
"You have a lot more leeway kicking off the
tee," Robinson says. "Kicking off the ground
is more of a precision-type thing. You have to
hit it just right. If you’re not in good shape
physically and mentally, you just can't do it."
Kicking off the ground wasn't the only thing
Robinson found difficult adjusting to with the
Bengals He also found out the position was a
little less secure for him than it was in col
lege “There’s constant pressure, and that's
something I wasn’t used to," he says. “I could
deal with pressure in a game very well, but
not the day-in, day-out pressure: knowing
they write down every kick and compare it
with the other kicker and knowing every kick
could make or break you."
Robinson tried out with four other teams
after being cut, but he never caught on with
anybody. The whole experience left him a lit
tle shaken "I’d be lying if I said there weren't
moments when I wondered if my career at
Georgia was a fluke, if I really was the kind of
kicker everyone — including myself —
thought I was."
It was a far cry from Robinson's senior
year at Georgia, when he was the best kicker
in college football. That year he became the
leading scorer in Georgia and Southeastern
Conference history. He kicked his 101st con
secutive extra point, the second most in
NCAA history, and his 56th field goal, also
good for second place in the NCAA record
books. For college kickers who attempted at
least 70 field goals in their careers, Robinson
was the most accurate, making 56 of 84 (.667).
Only Texas' Russell Erxleben was more ac
curate from 40 yards and beyond.
Robinson was especially effective in the
clutch Against Kentucky in 1978, he kicked a
29-yard field goal with three seconds remain
ing to give Georgia a 17-16 victory. That same
year against Baylor, he kicked three field
goals and a PAT as Georgia upset the Bears
16-14. And against South Carolina in 1980, he
kicked field goals of 57 and 51 yards, the latter
against the wind, which provided the winning
points in Georgia's 13-10 win.
Robinson’s confidence, by then, was at its
peak. "After those field goals against South
Carolina. 1 felt like I could make ’em from
anywhere on the field,” he remembers. “If
we had been on our 10-yardline and Coach
(Vince) Dooley had told me to try a field goal,
I would have thought I could make it."
Though his success at Georgia makes his
flop in the pros seem that much more surpris
ing, Robinson is not the first successful col
lege kicker to have problems adjusting to
kicking in the NFL. Erxleben, despite his
brilliance in college (31 of 54 from 40 yards or
more), failed as a place kicker.
Erxleben, like Robinson, learned the hard
way that kicking in the NFL is the loneliest
position in professional sports. Nowhere else
is success so taken for granted, nowhere else
is failure so frowned upon.
“It's a pressurized position,” says Erx
leben "Kicking's a mental state more than it
is a physical one, and you’re scared to death
to make a mistake Because in this business,
you’re supposed to be perfect. People pay to
see professionals, and they expect perfection.
When you don't perform like that, they get
upset.
“People try to make you feel like a little
person, and I took it home with me,” he says.
“The ones who survive are the ones who can
cope with the outside interference. You’ve got
to blow it all off and concentrate."
Robinson knows he’s got his work cut out
for him. “There’s no doubt I'm the under
dog,” he says. "He (Steinfort) can be the best
if he’s got his act together , ’'
But Robinson is confident he can kick in the
NFL, if not at Denver then somewhere else.
He points to his past as proof. During his
career at Georgia, his biggest successes
followed his biggest failures: He missed his
first extra point, then made 101 straight; he
had his shortest miss before his longest field
goal. "I've had failures before, I've made
mistakes, but I’ve bounced back from those
mistakes and I know what I need to do to
win."
Should he not make it with the Broncos,
Robinson will keep trying, but he won’t pur
sue the goal forever. “I’m not going to chase a
star for the rest of my life," he says. “I’m go
ing to go the whole '82 season, and if I don't
make it, I’ll probably finish school and go on
and do something else in life. I'm not kidding
myself."
And he's serious about this, possibly his
last, shot. “I've gone from being easy or.
myself to being hypercritical. Even if I have a
good day, it’s not good enough. I can’t ever be
satisfied, or I’ll have another year like 1981,
when I was satisfied with everything and I
ended up being nothing.”
Poor relief pitching hampers Dogs’ SEC title hopes
If you haven't already written off the
Georgia baseball team as possible con
tenders for the Southeastern Con
ference championship, maybe you
should sharpen your pencil.
While the Bulldogs are still
mathematically In the SEC Eastern
Division race, they are, for all practical
purposes, eliminated
The rain-shortened two- game series
loss at Tennease last Sunday diminish
ed all hope for a first- or second- place
finish In the Eastern Division. Only the
top two teams from each division are
invited to the SEC tournament
The loss dropped the Dogs Into fourth
place In the East behind Florida, Ten
nessee and Vanderbilt. And with only
six league games remaining, the Dogs
no longer control their destiny It
doesn't matter if the Dogs win the rest
of their conference games. Now they
must count on other teams to lose If
they are to make the playoffs.
The Dogs are now 7-9 in the SEC
(18-16 overall going into Wednesday's
Western Carolina game) one-half game
behind third- place Vandy (8-9 In the
SEC). Georgia Is three- and-a-half
games behind league- leading Ten
nessee and Florida who have identical
9-4 records
Of Georgia's six remaining division
games, three are against last place
Kentucky. Even If the Dogs sweep the
Wildcats, they won't gain any ground
on the leaders Unless, of course, the
leaders lose while the Dogs are winn
ing.
The other three games are against
Florida. The Gators swept two games
from Georgia earlier in the season But
this series will be played in Athens
where the Dogs have had the most suc
cess
Both Tennessee and Florida have
nine division games remaining. It
would take a massive tallspln by either
team to allow Georgia to get back in the
race.
Several reasons can be given for the
Dogs demise from the hottest team In
the league two weeks ago to where they
are now Losing three games in a row
can certainly be included among the
causes.
But the main reason can be attributed
to poor relief pitching. Even when the
Dogs won eight straight games and
seemed destined for the conference
playoffs. Georgia relievers showed they
couldn't hold a lead.
A perfect example was the series
with Vanderbilt back on April 10 and U.
In two of those three games. Dog
relievers gave up runs in the late inn
ings to allow the Commodores to get
back in the games
Only good hitting in the last inning,
combined with crucial Vandy errors
allowed the Dogs to sweep their first
Braves’ fans have reason to cheer
ATLANTA (UP1) — After a mostly
disappointing 15 years, Georgia
baseball fans finally have something to
cheer about: the Atlanta Braves have
won the most consecutive games to
open the season in modern day baseball
history
Atlanta pulled up the rear of the
National League for years, but the red-
hot Braves won their 12th straight
game Tuesday night, defeating the
Cincinnati Reds 4-2 in the first of a 13-
game home stand.
The rain-shortened two-game series
hot Braves won their 13th straight
game Wednesday night, defeating Cin
cinnati! Reds 4-3 in the second of a 13-
game home stand
Tuesday night, after the Braves
defeated Cincinnati 4-2, thousands of
fans flooded the field of the Fulton
County Stadium as the Braves fled to
W. Carolina edges Dogs
for fourth straight loss
The Georgia baseball team lost its
fourth straight game Wednesday after
noon to Western Carolina 14-13 The loss
The Dogs fell behind 4-0 in the first as
starter and loser Dave Sawyer (2-2)
was hit hard from the start
They scored four runs in the third inn
ing to tie the game and took their only
lead In the fourth on a single run, 5-4.
Western Carolina then exploded for
five runs in the fourth, and four runs in
the fifth to take a commanding lead
Georgia pitchers Sawyer and Klzer
were latooed for nine hits in those two
innings and the Dogs never caught up
The Doga did come back and make it
close with two runs In the seventh and
three runs in the ninth But Carolina’s
Mel Kinsey crashed a solo homer in the
seventh for the deciding run.
The loss tarnished some great hitting
for the Dogs as they pounded out 19 hits
Mike Wlrth hit two homers, his sixth
and seventh, and Jeff Treadway was 4-
for-6 with five RBIs Shortstop Jeff
LeRlger also had s homer for the Dogs,
his first of the season
The Dogs will try to snap their losing
streak today as they play a makeup
game against Newberry College at 3
p.m. at Foley Field.
— Brian R. Moersch
the locker room to avoid being trampl
ed
“When I looked up and saw that
crowd coming at me," said second
baseman Glenn Hubbard, “I got
scared.”
"When you have 38,000 people
screaming their heads off for you, it
gives you a confident feeling," said
pitcher Gene Garber "Going 12-0 was
even better than when I broke Pete
Rose's (44-game) hitting streak "
Fans took to the streets, hanging out
of car windows, screaming, "How 'bout
them Braves?"
There’s even a song about the
Braves, written by confessed "baseball
nut" Terry Cashman of New York,
getting a lot of airplay at radio stations
across Georgia
Fans haven't had much to cheer
about since major league baseball
came to Atlanta in 1966 There was a
division championship in 1969 (dulled
by going 9-3 against the New York Mels
in the playoffs). Hank Aaron's suc
cessful pursuit of Babe Ruth's home
run record in 1974, and now this
By winning Tuesday night, the
Braves became the first major league
team in nearly 100 years to get off to a
12-0 start Last time that happened in
the National League was in 1884 when
the New York Giants did that well
conference series in two years.
In fact, in seven of the eight games
during the streak. Dog relievers allow
ed the opposition to score runs late, for
cing Georgia’s offense to stage last- Inn
ing rallies to win.
The Georgia offense has been the only
saving grace for an otherwise mediocre
season Buck Belue’s return combined
with the timeiy hitting of Rick Fuentes,
David Jackson, and Mike Wirth have
given the Dogs wins when it looked as if
they were going to lose.
But hitting can’t carry the load all the
time And if there is no help on the
mound, there is no hope for the Dogs to
qualify for postseason play.
Steve Corrigan Is the assistant sports
editor for The Red and Black.
I'hoto/Sam KaUI
not even for the Bulldogs
And it y s
Delirium has taken charge of Atlanta
Fulton-County Stadium the past few
days, and for once It has nothing to do
with the downtown crime rate The
Atlanta Braves are playing like a team
possessed and their fane have finally
decided to go along for the tide.
Manager Joe Torre's streakers go
against the Cincinnati Reds one more
time tonight and the lines for tickets
have been encouragingly long. Pennant
fever In April? Better now than never.