Jenni Carlson, Sports columnist
Jenni Carlson: OSU quarterback Zac Robinson is pressing on
Losing Grandpa: At last, Zac Robinson seems at peace
By Jenni Carlson
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45
Published: October 30, 2009
STILLWATER — Zac Robinson suspected everyone was staring at him.
Besides the burden of carrying a team without Kendall Hunter or Dez Bryant, OSU quarterback Zac Robinson has carried the weight of the illness and death of his grandfather. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
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Not because he’s the Oklahoma State quarterback. Not because he’s the face of the Cowboy Nation.
Every time he went to church with his grandparents, he just knew all eyes turned to them whenever his grandpa would start singing. His voice was powerful and strong — and he wasn’t afraid to use it.
"He was singing like he was in the choir,” Robinson said, smiling at the memory.
Not that he minded.
That joyful singing was one of the many things Robinson loved about his grandpa, a man who married his middle school sweetheart and doted on his family, who served his country and excelled in his business career, who kept touch with his high school friends and founded a men’s group at his church.
Frank Robinson lived well and loved lots.
Any wonder his battle with brain cancer took a serious toll on his grandson?
As the
Cowboys prepare not only for the biggest game of their lives but also for the most important game in their program’s history, no player will have more impact on the outcome than Robinson. He is playing his best football of the season and arguably of his career.
His passing stats are telling. In three conference games, he has 756 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. But it’s not the stats that are eye-opening.
It’s that Robinson looks in control and at peace.
While he has talked about his improved physical condition — that shoulder injury he suffered in the
Holiday Bowl and that leg injury that hampered him in the preseason are worries of the past — it is his mental state that has made the biggest difference of late.
Now that his grandpa is at peace, so is Robinson.
"Any time you have a situation where you have a family member that’s ill ... it’s not just yourself,” Cowboy co-offensive coordinator
Gunter Brewer said. "You worry about other family members, and the kind of kid he is, I’m sure that’s been a strain on him.
"Now, he seems to be settling in a little bit better.”
No doubt some of that is because of the turmoil that has embroiled this team. Off-field situations and on-field injuries have left the Cowboys in flux since the preseason.
Just think of the offensive players who’ve been lost since the start of training camp.
Kye Staley.
Jamal Mosley.
Kendall Hunter.
Jeremy Smith.
Dez Bryant.
Just think of the replacements who’ve become standouts.
Keith Toston.
Beau Johnson.
Tracy Moore.
Hubert Anyiam. Dameron Fooks.
What if someone would’ve told the Cowboy quarterback at the start of the season that those would be the guys he’d be playing alongside?
"I would’ve thought you were crazy,” Robinson said. "A lot of them started off the season maybe as a third-string guy. At the beginning of the season, who would’ve thought these guys would be doing that?”
But as Robinson was trying to adjust to an ever-changing line-up, he was also driving from Stillwater to
Oklahoma City to be at his grandpa’s bedside. Frank Robinson spent his final days in the hospital, too sick to eat, too weak to stand.
How did his grandson manage?
It was a struggle. Seeing his grandpa’s pain. Knowing his grandma’s anguish. Feeling his own heart’s ache.
Monday night the week of the
Texas A&M game, Zac said goodbye, telling his grandpa how much he loved him, saying things both of them already knew.
Wednesday morning, Frank died.
For the next week or so, Robinson walked around in a fog. There was sadness and grief, concern and loss. There was also football.
Juggling it all was difficult.
But four days after his grandpa’s funeral, Robinson built on a solid second half at Texas A&M by throwing for 227 yards and rushing for 39 yards against
Missouri. He commanded the offense. He dictated the action.
Then came the 23-of-27, 250-yard, three-touchdown performance at Baylor.
Robinson insists that he doesn’t feel much different now than before.
"There’s obviously been a couple series here and there where I haven’t made a throw,” he said. "It happens with every quarterback. There’s throws that you miss, throws that you want back, but right now, I feel good throwing the ball, moving around a little bit.”
Even if he doesn’t see a difference, those close to him do.
Robinson and roommate
Dan Bailey decided to record the
Baylor game. When they got back to Stillwater late Saturday afternoon, they watched the 34-7 rout of the Bears.
"You know,” Bailey told his roomie, "you played pretty good.”
"Yeah,” Robinson said, blowing off the compliment.
"No,” Bailey insisted, "you played
really good.”
Robinson just smiled.
"I think he knows,” Bailey said, "but he’s just trying to stay focused and keep doing what he’s doing. I think he’s just had to be more focused with all the stuff going on.”
Frank Robinson always told his grandchildren the same thing at the end of every visit — "Press on.” He wanted them to keep going even when times were tough, even when they felt like giving up or breaking down.
Zac Robinson wears those words on his eye black now, but more importantly, he carries them in his heart.
Frank Robinson is in a better place now.
So is his grandson.
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Clearly, your mind is your best friend.
I will just keep on going with my life, at peace with the fact that I indeed graduated from OSU. I have many things to be thankful for, including my time at OSU.
You can just continue to believe what you want, all the while trying to use big words to prove your mindless "points". Oh, and the lies you like to make up are my favorite parts. Keep them up!
Believe me, I wasn't trying to impress anyone on a message board buddy. That would be where you come in, trying to do that everyday. SAVANT!
You continue to impress me.
Now he says '07: which is it, savant? Were you lying then or are you lying now?
Oh, and no one's really impressed with your professorial name-dropping: a simple Google check with the relevant terms pulls up a whole list of professors one can claim to have been "taught" by in about three seconds.
"Piling on," indeed... (*snickers*)....
Now, you haven't been posting in a while, and suddenly you start. Are you just still steaming over these last few days of looking like a sore loser?
Here is a synopsis of my post about my time at OSU: Had great professors like Mike Sowell for Media Style and Structure, worked for The Daily O'Collegian, graduated in 2007.
Do you really want me to just keep piling it on? I mean, you already look dumb enough comparing Dez's lie to Ted Bundy.
Oh....do you want me to find that post you wrote on that topic and call you out again? Or are you just going to insist again that I am "lying".
Keep it up, Edmond Jason. Your insecurities are showing more and more on here.
On a side note, you have progressively become more hateful towards OSU. I used to have somewhat decent and rational (if you can call them that) conversations with you on here.
Seems your rational has flown out the window with your current argument. Not a surprise.
At least the Cowgirl whining, crying, and moaning about Dez Bryant has subsided - I've never seen so much special pleading on behalf of a liar. Expecting people to tell the truth is a "silly moral code," one Cowgirl stated!
Speaking of which, Jacob, Kansas, have you quit lying about being a "journalism graduate" yet? Or at least gotten your lie straight enough to locate your "graduation" date in the same decade as you stated previously?
What a classy OU fan you are. Shows your true character.
Can you hear that Jason? I know you are getting nervous with that prediction of yours.
TEXAS 66 OSU 3
You hit the nail on the head for Pokes fans.
GO POKES BEAT TEXAS!!!!
Keep tryin' Jenni....maybe in 20 years you'll be back.
Joe, I don't know what rock you crawled out from under but it is beckoning you to return.