The term influential person is a word that is defined as a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events. However, can someone be considered an influential person to you, if you haven't met them? My answer to that question is a resounding YES!
Much has been made of the amount of football players lives that Eddie Robinson touched and rightfully so. Robinson was responsible for sending 200 players to the NFL, but more importantly, preparing his players for the game of life. Robinson’s influence, however, reached further then just the athletic department at Grambling. As a proud alumnus of Grambling State University, Eddie Robinson to me was more then just a football coach. Robinson was responsible for the development of Louisiana Negro Normal Industrial Institution into Grambling State University.
Without Robinson's work, would this university have the name that is has today? Anyone who has ever attended Grambling State University owes Robinson. They owe Robinson for putting Grambling on the map. In America, specifically with education, either people have heard of your school or they haven’t. If they have, it gives you an advantage over those who come from schools that don’t have the same type of name recognition. It’s not fair, but that’s just the way it is.
For gramblinites world wide it’s time to say thanks. Thank You for not only winning over 400 games or sending these players to the NFL. Thank You for not only staying with this university for 57 years. But thank you, for every victory that this university has won off the football field. Thank You for every time an alumnus has walked into an interview and the employer said, “Oh Grambling! You went to Grambling? Grambling is a great school.” Or when we have worn a Grambling shirt or hat and someone has stopped us to ask about Grambling. Indeed, Grambling is a school with great tradition and we take great pride in our university. Eddie Robinson left a lasting legacy at GSU. It’s now time for each individual alumnus to leave its own.
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