MONROE, La. Johnny Robinson has absorbed, endured and otherwise navigated a form of rheumatoid arthritis in his spine that doctors once deemed incurable, thyroid cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a quadruple heart bypass and a severe stroke.
He figures the latter may have had something to do with all the bright lights he closed his eyes and willed away after jarring helmet contact back in the day with the Chiefs … not that he has any complaints about something he considers self-induced, if it is because of that.
His speech can be halting at times now as he summons words, he hasnt felt much in his lower right foot for years and theres been a blood clot for a while in a heart that will always feel a void from the murder in 1985 of his son, Tommy.
All of which might grind to a halt most mortals.
But most of us dont have a conviction that surges within us like the 79-year-old Robinson does.
So like he has about every day the last 38 years, he went to the Johnny Robinson Boys Home that he bought as a spontaneous calling after visiting a 10-year-old who had been sexually abused in a correctional center.
Agonized by the despair of this child hed known through church, Robinson felt beckoned by the sight of a For Sale sign in front of the large house at 3209 South Grand.
Never mind that he hadnt thought about such a thing before, had no funding plan or idea how to do any of what he felt compelled to take on in an enterprise that now has more than 30 full-time employees and currently houses 30 adolescent males.
In the first place, Im a Christian, said Robinson, who for several years lived inside the home. And I felt like somehow when I came out of that (facility) and saw what was happening to that kid, it just seems like I knew what my destiny was.
If he could merely help this boy, or any other one, Robinson might have been content in his true lifes work.
Instead, something incredible happened on what is now a seven-building campus that features an indoor gym and cafeteria and separate educational building with 30 computers.
As its worded in a proclamation from Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declaring May 1, 2016, a day honoring Robinsons work, the home has successfully facilitated thousands of youth from all over the State of Louisiana through this program.
This has made Johnny Robinson whole and at peace.
So Robinson doesnt as much yearn to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as wish with a certain serenity at least outwardly that this be made right.
Maybe time wont run out on me, he said, smiling.
