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Tennessee Football: Former Vols QB Tony Robinson Featured in ESPN Film

By Caleb Calhoun

Sep 17, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; General view during the first half of the game between the Ohio Bobcats and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; General view during the first half of the game between the Ohio Bobcats and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Former Tennessee football quarterback Tony Robinson will be featured in an ESPN film. Robinson played for the Volunteers in the 1980s.

Tony Robinson helped restore Tennessee football to prominence under Johnny Majors in the mid-1980s before he suffered a season-ending injury in 1985.

He then ran into a few personal issues after that and never played another snap with the Vols. Now, he is featured in an ESPN film the ‘Year of the Scab,’ which chronicles the 1987 Washington Redskins replacement players.

Robinson signed with the team after the players went on strike.

According to Rhiannon Potkey of the Knoxville News Sentinel,  the film will premier in New York on April 27.

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Robinson’s breakout career at Tennessee started with his impressive performance during the 1984 season.

Then, he entered 1985 as a Heisman Trophy candidate and an All-SEC player.

With four ranked teams on the schedule in their first five games, RObinson led the Vols to a 3-1-1 record to start the season. That included a 2-1-1 record against ranked teams, including a tie against the No. 10 ranked UCLA Bruins and wins over the No. 1 ranked Auburn Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Robinson got hurt and missed the rest of the season after the Alabama game as the 1985 Vols became one of the most beloved teams in school history. Daryl Dickey filled in and took them on a 6-0-1 record to win the SEC Championship and shock the Miami Hurricanes with a dominating 35-7 Sugar Bowl performance.

However, Robinson was the one laid the foundation with those key wins at the beginning of the year to restore the Vols to that prominence. Dickey didn’t play any ranked teams during the regular season before Miami.

So Robinson deserves the credit for bringing the team together with his play and growing their confidence.

That confidence carried on after his injury. And it’s why the Vols won the SEC and beat the Hurricanes. It’s also why they were able to return to prominence after that.

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