THE AFL 1960–69: A RETROSPECTIVE
Johnny Robinson Was an All-AFL Player Who in 2019 Finally Became a Hall of Famer
Once Texans coach Hank Stram switched him from running back to safety, his career took off.
Like his more heralded college teammate, 1959 Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon, Johnny Robinson was an outstanding running back at LSU.
He could run the ball with speed and power and was an excellent pass receiver out of the backfield, but he always played the secondary role to the glamour boy, Cannon.
It was much of the same when the two players joined the AFL in its inaugural 1960 season. Both had signed contracts to play in the NFL but spurned the older league in favor of the AFL. Both had signed their new AFL contracts at the same time, under the goalposts at the Sugar Bowl following their final collegiate game. Both had been taken to court for that action but were exonerated and allowed to stay with their AFL teams, Cannon in Houston and Robinson in Dallas. But references to that turbulent time always seem to include Cannon, not Robinson.
During their first two years in the AFL, Cannon became the star running back everyone expected him to become, but playing behind Abner Haynes in Dallas, Robinson…
