Gilmer George Robinson (April 18, 1910 – July 11, 1985) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

who played one season with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Catawba College Catawba College is a private college in Salisbury, North Carolina. Founded in 1851 by the North Carolina Classis of the Reformed Church in Newton, the college adopted its name from its county of origin, Catawba County, before moving to its c ...

Early life

Gilmer George Robinson was born on April 18, 1910, in

Spencer, North Carolina Spencer is a town in Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan County, North Carolina, United States, incorporated in 1905. As of the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census, the town population was 3,267. History The town was named for Samuel Spence ...

. He played three sports at Spencer High School, and graduated in 1929.

College career

Robinson played

for the Catawba Indians of

as an

. He played 1,140 consecutive minutes in 19 games during his final two years at Catawba. He played 2,100 minutes in total during his college career, only missing one game during his sophomore year due to a hip injury suffered in practice. Robinson was also substituted for one minute of game action as a freshman. He was a team captain at Catawba. Robinson played

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

on the Catawba

basketball team Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and was a team captain. He played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

at Catawba as well. Overall, he earned 13

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. A person who ...

s at the college; four in football, four in basketball, four in baseball, and one in

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. Robinson graduated in 1933.

Professional career

Robinson played in one game for the

of the

during the team's inaugural 1933 season. He wore jersey number 25 while with the Pirates. He stood 6'0" and weighed 180 pounds.

Personal life

Robinson later enrolled at

George Williams College George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorgi ...

to in order to earn a physical education degree. In 1936, he was one of 30 American students chosen by the

American Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

and the American Academy of Physical Education to be guests of the

Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

government at a physical education congress held in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

two weeks before the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

. The 30 students sailed to Berlin with the American Olympic team and afterwards visited Switzerland, France, and England. In 1937, Robinson was named director of intramural athletics and a freshman football coach at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. He died on July 11, 1985, in

Hemet, California Hemet is a city in the San Jacinto Valley in Riverside County, California, United States. It covers a total area of , about half of the valley, which it shares with the neighboring city of San Jacinto, California, San Jacinto. The population w ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Gil 1910 births 1985 deaths Players of American football from Rowan County, North Carolina American football ends Catawba Indians football players Pittsburgh Pirates (football) players People from Spencer, North Carolina Catawba Indians men's basketball players Guards (basketball) Basketball players from North Carolina Catawba Indians baseball players Baseball players from North Carolina Michigan Wolverines football coaches Coaches of American football from North Carolina College men's tennis players in the United States Tennis players from North Carolina