How good was Dave Robinson?

[bachslunch]

It’s always puzzled me as to why Dave Robinson is on the 60s all-decade team, never mind a HoFer. Have heard second-hand rumblings that he looked good on film, better than his thin 3/3/60s honors profile would suggest. Not sure if that’s true or not. Anybody seen film on him and have thoughts?

[Citizen]

I'm thinking there were a lot of virtues that weren't on stat sheets or lists of year-end honors. Lombardi loved Robinson-- and later, so did George Allen -- partly because the guy didn't make mistakes, was versatile as hell, and had a nose for big plays.

Maybe that's not what you wanted to hear, but sometimes those intangibles do add up to a Hall of Fame career.

[bachslunch]

I'm thinking there were a lot of virtues that weren't on stat sheets or lists of year-end honors. Lombardi loved Robinson-- and later, so did George Allen -- partly because the guy didn't make mistakes, was versatile as hell, and had a nose for big plays.

Maybe that's not what you wanted to hear, but sometimes those intangibles do add up to a Hall of Fame career.

Nope, I’d rather get good information than anything else. If he looks amazing in film study, that would be good to know. Anything useful is welcome.

[Saban1]

I may not be the best judge, but he looked very good to me. In a 1967 game against the Giants he made 2 interceptions in a 48 to 21 win. He made a big play in the 1966 NFL Championship game pressuring Don Meredith into an interception at the end of the game, securing the win for Green Bay.

In the 55 to 7 rout of Cleveland in 1967, Robinson stripped rookie Larry Conjar of the ball and recovered it with the score 45 or 48 to 7 after one of Frank Ryan's few completions that day. With Green Bay so far ahead, it seemed kind of like rubbing it in a little by stripping the ball from the rookie Conjar.

But, to answer the original question, I think that Robinson was very good from what I have seen of him on film.

[BD Sullivan]

He helped force Meredith's interception in the 1966 NFL title game that clinched the game for the Pack.

[rhickok1109]

Robinson was unusual in that he was a force as a run stopper and as a pass defender. Not many LBs can make that claim. I'd take a guy like Robinson over somebody like, say, Ted Hendricks or Rickey Jackson or Derrick Thomas, who were outstanding pass rushers but basically useless against the run.

He was also a very intelligent player who was always in the right place, which his most endearing characteristic as far as Lombardi was concerned.

[Bryan]

Robinson was unusual in that he was a force as a run stopper and as a pass defender. Not many LBs can make that claim.

I think Dave Wilcox and Dave Robinson were the best all-around OLBs of their era. They didn't have any weakness...they could take on blockers, they could make big plays, they could cover. Guys like Chris Hanburger and Chuck Howley were very good in their own right, but they were more gambling/shooting gaps/Junior Seau OLBs, whereas Wilcox and Robinson were straight up/Derrick Brooks types.