Robinson was an all-state football, tennis and baseball player in high school. He became starting fullback in his freshman year at U-High. Robinson and his older brother, Tommy, won the national boys' junior tennis championship when they were at University High School at LSU, where their father, Dub Robinson, was the longtime LSU tennis coach.
College career
Robinson committed to play football at LSU after school where he was a member of the national championship-winning 1958 LSU Tigers football team. Also while at LSU, he won the SEC tennis championship in singles and SEC doubles championship with his brother Tommy.
Professional career
Robinson was drafted by the Dallas Texans in the first round of the 1960 AFL Draft. He was also selected third overall by the Detroit Lions in the 1960 NFL Draft. He was a member of the Texans in their 1962 20–17 double-overtime victory over the two-time defending AFL Champion Houston Oilers in the longest professional football league championship game ever played. He played in Super Bowl I in 1967. In Super Bowl IV, the underdog Chiefs defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 23–7. Robinson played that game with three broken ribs he received from the previous game. Late in the first half, Robinson picked up a Minnesota fumble and made an interception in the second half to help seal the win. During his first two years in the AFL, Robinson played flanker on offense, rushing for 658 yards on 150 carries and had 1,228 receiving yards on 77 receptions, as well as 15 total touchdowns. He was moved to safety after his second year and continued as a standout safety for ten of his 12 years. His last game came on Christmas Day1971, when the Chiefs lost to the Miami Dolphins 24–27 after 22 minutes, 40 seconds of overtime. He suffered a career ending injury that game. The game remains the longest game in NFL history. That contest was also the Chiefs' last game in Kansas City's Municipal Stadium. Robinson thus played in the sport's longest championship game in 1962 and in its absolute longest game, each game closing out professional football in its respective stadium. Robinson retired in the summer of 1972 prior to training camp after playing for 12 years.
Legacy
Robinson was a seven-time first-team All-Pro and three-time second-team All-Pro selection. He is a member of the All-time All-AFL Team and one of only 20 players who were in the AFL for its entire ten-year existence. The Chiefs had a 35–1–1 record in games that Robinson made an interception. Robinson is an inductee of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Robinson was elected into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in February 2019, becoming the ninth member from the Chiefs' Super Bowl IV team to be inducted. Later that year, he was recognized as an SEC Football Legend for LSU.
Statistics
Personal and later life
After he retired as a player, Robinson was a scout for the Chiefs until Hank Stram was fired in 1974. He then coached defensive backs for the Jacksonville Express of the World Football League in 1975. The league folded that year, and he became a scout for the New Orleans Saints, again under Stram. Robinson founded and operates a youth home called Johnny Robinson's Boys Home for troubled boys in Monroe, Louisiana, and has been a long-time supporter of children's causes.
