Bryan Robinson is the Heart of the Soul

Adam Markowitz
Friday August 10, 2012

NEW ORLEANS -- When you look into the eyes of Philadelphia Soul DL Bryan Robinson on the field, you have to see a man that is full of intensity. He's always out to work harder than you, and virtually 100% of the time, he does just that. When I had the chance to look into his eyes at Media Day on Wednesday, just 48 hours before ArenaBowl XXV, I saw a man that knows that he is on the verge of something special. And he's enjoying every single minute of it.

I'll have to admit that this is a man that I have a heck of a lot of respect for. A native of Delaware, Robinson always had a rough road to become a professional football player at any level. He stayed near his hometown for school, going to a very small school, Wesley College, a Division III college with a listed enrollment for last school year of 2,320.

Wesley College has had a grand total of three players ever make it to the NFL, and there are just three players in the history of this league to ever graduate as a Wolverine. According to DatabaseFootball.com, there are just 23 players that have ever played a single game in the NFL born in the state of Delaware.

Needless to say, the odds have been stacked against Robinson. That never stopped him, though.

Robinson started all four years that he played at Wesley, breaking the school record and the All-Atlantic Central Football Conference record for the most sacks in a career with 47 to go with his 92.5 tackles for loss. Being from such a small school, it is virtually impossible to really get a chance to play in the NFL. The Arizona Cardinals gave Robinson a shot, but he was never able to stick with the team. From there he went to the UFL, but he found no success with the New York Sentinels.

And then there was af2. The man they call "B-Rob" started his indoor career in 2009, and he immediately found his niche. He led the Manchester Wolves with 11 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, and eight quarterback hurries. Things finally started to look up for Robinson, but in his first year moving back up to the AFL, there were definitely some growing pains. He hooked up with the Cleveland Gladiators for a few games before getting released, and then he joined the Milwaukee Iron, who dumped him after a month.

Robinson never really had all that much of a shot in either of his AFL stops in 2010, but in 2011, the Kansas City Command gave him a chance to shine. That opportunity was all that he needed. After a relatively drab start to the season, Robinson had arguably the most important game of his career against the defending ArenaBowl champs. B-Rob racked up a career-high four sacks and a blocked kick against the Spokane Shock, earning Defensive Player of the Week honors.

The Soul made a heck of a lot of notable signings in the offseason, including the likes of QB Dan Raudabaugh, FB Derrick Ross, WR Tiger Jones… and the list goes on and on. The signing of Robinson had to feel like a bit of an afterthought, especially in the media.

But alas, the big man in the middle is the man that should have been making headlines all along for the Soul. In the first game of the year against the New Orleans VooDoo, right here at New Orleans Arena, there were a lot of stats that had to stand out. Jones had 132 receiving yards. Raudabaugh had 310 yards and seven scores. Jeff Hughley had 360 all-purpose yards. Yet it was the stat that you didn't see easily on the box score, a blocked kick on a 40-yard field goal attempt at the gun that could have won the game that proved to make the difference.

Head Coach Doug Plank knew just how important that play was for his team's season. As a part of his Media Day address, Plank said, "We needed every single point in that game. We went from that and progressed through the season."

Robinson went on to block six more kicks in the regular season, and he is now the single season record holder for blocked kicks in a year. He also ended up with 10 sacks to lead the team and 13 tackles for loss. Robinson also led the team in forced fumbles with five.

It's not the stats that you see that really make Robinson such a force, though. He has a tendency of finding his way into his opponent's backfield, and even if he doesn't get a sack or a batted pass, he changes a ton of throws that a quarterback was intending on making. Sometimes the end result was an incomplete pass. Other times, one of these talented defensive backs was able to get an interception because of the pressure.

It's the same thing in the kicking game. Teams only went 4-of-11 on field goals against the Soul this year, and they also converted 84.0 percent of their PATs. Yes, Robinson got his paws on seven kicks, but what you don't see in these stats are the kicks that were altered and ended up being missed because of the pressure right up the gut.

These are the types of plays that don't take talent. They take heart, hustle, work, and determination. So what's the key for Robinson? Just ask him. "Just going hard, every opportunity I get. I don't like to take plays off… Some people take a play off, and I don't."

In the end though, sacks and blocked kicks are nice, but this game is all about a championship. Unfortunately, the motivation for some football players, regardless of league, play this game for the money, or the fame, or the personal achievements. For this small town boy from Camden, Delaware though, there is no doubt what Friday night's game is all about.

When asked what it would mean lift the Foster Trophy on Friday, it took a second for Robinson to answer, but he came up with a fantastic response. "It's going to be the best feeling in my life. I've never won a professional football championship at any level. It's going to be an out of body experience for me."