Robin Cole (born September 11, 1955) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in 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), primarily with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

and later with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. 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 ...

for the

New Mexico Lobos The New Mexico Lobos are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque. The university participates in the NCAA Division I in the Mountain West Conference (MW) since 1999 ...

Early life and college

Cole was the seventh of ten children born to Obediah and Georgia Mae Cole. He attended high school at

Compton High School Compton High School is a high school in Compton, California, United States, part of the Compton Unified School District. History Compton Union High School opened in 1896. Both the high school and Compton Junior High School were severely damag ...

, graduating in 1973. His cousin, Willie Davis, was a Hall of Fame defensive end for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

who won five NFL titles and the first two Super Bowls. He furthered his education at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

where he became an All American and the first person to be a first round draft pick out of the university.

Professional career

He was selected by the

with the 21st overall pick in the first round of the

1977 NFL draft The 1977 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1977, at the Roosevelt Hotel ...

. At Pittsburgh, he was a part of the Steel Curtain defense, replacing Andy Russell as right outside linebacker. He played

and defensive end for eleven seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cole played in two Super Bowls –

Super Bowl XIII Super Bowl XIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1978 Dallas Cowboys season, Dallas Cow ...

and

Super Bowl XIV Super Bowl XIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1979 Los Angeles Rams season, Los Angeles Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

. Mr. Cole was in the starting lineup in Super Bowl XIV in January 1980 and was elected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

in 1984. He was runner up for MVP in Super Bowl XIV, finishing behind

Terry Bradshaw Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since 1994, he has been a television sports an ...

. He played one season, 1988, with the

Post-football career

Since leaving the NFL after the 1988 season, Cole has served as a public speaker to corporate groups, business sales teams, sports teams, churches, schools and prisons. He has been a keynote speaker and emcee for many events, drawing on a message of inspiration and motivation as a cancer survivor. Cole is an entrepreneur and trained at the Ford Motor Institute to be a dealer. He and his brother Erick also operated a cheesecake company, ''Unforgettable Sweets'', in Canton Township, Pennsylvania, which opened in 2005. In addition, he has served on several charitable boards, including the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

, The March of Dimes, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and others. He is a lifetime member of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

. Cole was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004, a disease that afflicted him and his two brothers, and eventually led to the death of father Obediah at age 50, and Obediah's twin brother – Robin's uncle – Ahab. As a result of the diagnosis (which Cole survived), he became the co-founder and president of the Obediah Cole Foundation, which has also been cited as the Robin Cole Foundation for Prostate Cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Robin Players of American football from Los Angeles American football linebackers New Mexico Lobos football players Pittsburgh Steelers players New York Jets players American Conference Pro Bowl players 1955 births Living people Compton High School alumni