Endangered Species : Raider Veteran Robinson May Have Lost a Step, but He Is Taking His New Backup Role in Stride

In a profession where careers average fewer than four years, Raider linebacker Jerry Robinson is Tyrannosaurus rex.

At 34, the Ice Age cometh. His 23-year-old teammates wonder what life was like back in the 1970s, without MTV, when Robinson was a three-time All-American at UCLA.

The Raider kids call Robinson “Pops.” It was good fun until they sought employment at Robinson headquarters, strong outside linebacker.

The whispers started after last January’s 51-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC title game, a performance in which the Raider linebackers, to put it politely, did not excel.

Robinson was summoned to the coach’s office before training camp this summer and told the team needed to look at younger players at his position, you know, for the future.

Robinson knew. The Raiders also wanted to move Robinson back to inside linebacker. Robinson accepted the news graciously.

With age comes wisdom. Better to be a part-time Raider than a former Raider. Where could Robinson help? Not that it hasn’t been difficult, especially when first-unit defense is called and he instinctively jumps.

Not so fast, Robinson.

In Saturday’s exhibition opener against the San Francisco 49ers, newcomer Winston Moss started in Robinson’s place. The Raiders are also working second-year man Aaron Wallace at the spot.

So many years, almost by rote, Robinson would come to camp and end up first on the depth chart. His talent took care of that. This season is different. This season, Robinson hopes there is a this season.

“I wasn’t shocked when I came to camp,” he said recently after an afternoon practice at Raider camp in Oxnard. “I knew. The biggest thing that people have to understand, and I already understand, is that you can’t be here forever. It doesn’t work that way.”

The Raiders maintain that Robinson still has a place in their hearts. It’s merely moved to a different chamber.

“Jerry Robinson is a member of this football team,” Coach Art Shell said. “I expect him to be a member of this football team. That doesn’t mean he’s going to be a starter at outside linebacker. There’s a role for every member of this football team.”

As it is, Robinson has bucked most odds. He has lasted 12 years in the NFL. He had never so much as broken a bone until fracturing his hand late last season. Robinson had the hand placed in a cast and played on.

His career has been a mixed bag of success and setback. The 21st player selected in the 1979 draft, Robinson was named NFL defensive rookie of the year. He enjoyed was a leader of the Philadelphia Eagles’ 1980 team that lost to the Raiders in Super Bowl XV. The opposing left tackle in that game, Art Shell, is now Robinson’s coach.

Robinson was named to the Pro Bowl after the 1981 season.

He then fulfilled a lifelong dream when he was traded to the Raiders before the 1986 season. Robinson grew up in Santa Rosa, where the Oakland Raiders used to train. He remembers peeking through fences at his Raider heroes.

But it almost all fell apart in 1987 when Robinson endured a career-threatening, publicly humiliating drug arrest.

Robinson might have retired last season had the Raiders defeated the Bills and won the Super Bowl. The devastation of the loss to Buffalo, though, inspired him to return.

“After 12 seasons, if somebody would have told me I wouldn’t have a Super Bowl championship ring, I’d have told them they were crazy,” Robinson said. “I’m still looking for it. That’s one reason I keep coming back.”

Last off-season, no matter how he tried, Robinson couldn’t get the Buffalo game off his mind.

“I mean, you couldn’t go very many places without people throwing Buffalo in your face,” he said. “You forget about it until you go to some elementary school and you speak to a crowd of kids and you ask for questions, and the first question out of this little 9-year-old kid is: ‘What happened in Buffalo?’ ”

So Robinson decided to come back and fight it out, then take his chances at the final roster cut. The days preceding will be anxious ones. And while the rewards of the game are many, so are the pitfalls.

Robinson, a recovering alcoholic, recently moved from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to Las Vegas.

“There’s a lot of stress, from training camp to the end of the season,” Robinson said. “Sometimes it’s a stressful business, and I just felt like eliminating some of the stress out of my life. So the family and I moved out there.”

Robinson said he also came back this season because of Shell, who turned the franchise around in 1990, his first full season as head coach.

Robinson said he respected Shell for pulling no punches in discussing Robinson’s future.

“The uncertainty would have been there if I would have walked into camp, and all of a sudden I’m not practicing,” Robinson said. “Beforehand, Art and I, we sat down and talked. There are some young players here, and you’ve got to look at them, because if you don’t plan for the future, you’re going to be lost when it gets there.”

Robinson would rather not have competition, but that’s not the real world. Moss, acquired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an off-season trade, didn’t come to run errands. Wallace, who led AFC rookies last season with nine sacks, is moving closer to extended playing time in the regular defense.

To survive, Robinson must adjust. He has played inside and outside linebacker in the NFL. If the Raiders need him to back up Riki Ellison in the middle, so be it. Robinson also has redeeming value as a pass defender.

“Remember me telling you about stress?” he said. “Why put any more pressure on yourself. When you’re used to jumping out there with the first team, it’s a habit. But I definitely want to be part of this team. I still think I have something to offer.”