Alumni Spotlight: Ryne Robinson

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Former Miami student-athlete Ryne Robinson almost missed his opportunity to receive the Jet Legacy Award last spring.

He initially thought it was just another outbound message cluttering his inbox. Ryne Robinson at Michigan

"I ignored it for two weeks," Robinson laughed. "And then the lady goes, 'I'm trying to give you an award,' and I said, 'Oh, okay!'"

At first, Robinson didn't realize how big the event, honoring some of the greatest kick returners (past and present) in college football history, would be.

"They flew my entire family out. We were there for a few days [in Omaha, Neb.]. And they rolled out the red carpet," said Robinson.

"I think it's a huge accomplishment: for me to be considered an undersized receiver and put up the kind of numbers that I put on the football field…but the Legacy Award was a surprise to me. I had no idea it was coming."

From 2003-2006, the wide receiver (and his Miami Football team) re-wrote the record books in Oxford. In 2003, the RedHawks finished the season with a 13-1 record, including a victory in the GMAC Bowl.

Robinson graduated with 5,656 all-purpose yards, third-best of any player in Miami Football history.

He still holds the program records for most career receptions and most career receiving yards, as well as punt return yardage marks for single-game, single-season and career. The Toledo, Ohio native set a Mid-American Conference record in 2003 with 237 punt-return yards in a single game, including two touchdowns, and was named the league's Special Teams Player of the Year the following fall. His 1,677 career punt return yards still ranks third all-time nationally.
Ryne Robinson

Despite his individual accomplishments, Robinson believes the RedHawks' success stemmed from the team's mentality.

"There was nobody out for themselves," Robinson remembered. "It was very majestic in the way that we just got smoked in that first game [in 2003]: Everything fell apart. And seemingly the next week, everything was perfect and we were firing on all cylinders.

"We had guys willing to go above and beyond for the sake of the team."

Not only did he dominate on the football field, but Robinson also set single-season records as a left fielder for Miami's baseball team. His eight triples in the 2005 season is second-most in program history, trailing only eventual World Series hero Adam Eaton. Robinson stole 65 bases over three years (ninth-most at Miami), with more than half of those coming in 2005 (34, the second-most of any RedHawk), as he was named Second-Team All-MAC.

When it came to balancing his life as a student-athlete, Robinson says the baseball season was more difficult to manage than football due to the extensive travel.

"I remember one semester, I missed 23 classes…so depending on where we were playing, [I'd have] to get my work early and make sure I was doing homework on the bus when we were driving," Robinson recalled. Ryne Robinson

Nevertheless, the lessons he learned on and off the field at Miami prepared him for his experiences as a professional athlete.

"I think Miami did a great job of –and we talk about this all the time– making me a Miami man," Robinson said. "Being on campus and having a good support system while I was there [really helped]: people you could talk to and get advice from.

"Even after the fact, people always called and checked on me. It was always a collaborative thing to make sure I was successful."

In 2007, the Carolina Panthers selected Robinson in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. He played for one year before getting injured. After a few years in retirement, Robinson became a sales professional.

"I moved into personal training for the past seven-and-a-half years. I still do that a little bit. And now, I currently sell software," Robinson said. "My normal 'nine-to-five' is calling and developing relationships with people and building my own brand, just in a different capacity here in the tech space."

When looking back on his time at Miami, Robinson is most proud of what the team was able to achieve.

Ryne Robinson

"I'm more tied into what the team was able to accomplish over the course of that time," Robinson explained. "But to look back and to have them throwing out stats –and saying that I'm still third all-time in college football history since they [started keeping the kick return yardage] stat– is a huge accomplishment for me."

The former wide receiver believes that future RedHawk athletes should embrace the work (even the little details) of what they do every day.

"You have to fall in love with being in that process, and that little stuff," Robinson said. "For me, my process was, 'How confident and perfect can I be catching the ball?'

"If it's anywhere in my vicinity, if it's within an arm's reach, I'm going to come down with that ball. There's no one else that's going to get it but me."

Find more Front Row Features at: MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures

Miami Football fans, don't miss the program's annual Spring Showcase, presented by Raising Cane's, on Saturday, April 20 in Oxford! The event is free and open to the public, with an equipment sale beginning at 8 a.m. and Swoop's Fan Fest and the One Stop Shop available at 10:30 a.m. Miami's practice begins at 11 a.m. that day.

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