Syracuse Stud Defensive End Alton Robinson Almost Went To Jail For 20 Years For Alleged Robbery During High School
This weekend is the biggest game in maybe 20 years for Syracuse football. For the first time in a long time they are very, very good at football. It’s fucking awesome. They are led by a warrior senior quarterback in Eric Dungey, coached by a journeyman offensive wizard in Dino Babers, and fueled by a ton of kids that want to shock the world. One of those kids is Alton Robinson. He’s a goddamn monster for opposing offensive lineman and quarterbacks. The man knows how to do one thing exceptionally well, and that is tackle the quarterback. He leads the team in sacks with 9, which puts him in a tie for 7th in the entire country. His 15 tackles for a loss put him at 15th in the country. The talent has always been there for Robinson, but his journey to this point is a complete shit show.
Robinson grew up in Texas and became a stand out linebacker in San Antonio. Kevin Sumlin came calling from Texas A&M and offered him a full scholarship. During his senior year of high school shit hit the fan in a big way.
On Feb. 9, police said Robinson, 17 at the time, stole his ex-girlfriend’s purse and her cellphone, according to a Bexar County (Texas) arrest report. A struggle over the purse injured Robinson’s ex-girlfriend’s knee, the report stated. After police said Robinson pushed the woman down, she ran after Robinson, who dropped the purse but kept the cellphone, according to the report. Robinson allegedly committed a similar crime in May 2015, stealing his same ex-girlfriend’s purse and pushing her into a bush after she chased him, per multiple media outlets’ reports, at the time. The woman was not identified by name in Robinson’s arrest report.
If found guilty of second-degree robbery, Robinson could have faced up to 20 years in prison.
When asked what happened on Feb. 9, Robinson said: “All I got to say is I can only control what I can control. I can’t control what somebody else says.”
Despite the possible 20-year sentence, those around Robinson weren’t too worried. He had returned his ex-girlfriend’s phone the night after the incident, McAuliffe said. Robinson also showed up to school the next day, he added.
Sumlin pulled the scholarship even though Robinson was eventually cleared of all the robbery charges. Robinson was stuck in purgatory without a place to play as no one would touch him and his history with a ten foot pole. Syracuse’s Dino Babers gave him a shot after a year at a JUCO school, as he’s a believer in second chances. Since then he’s exploded into one of the better pass rushers in the country. He for sure has an NFL future ahead of him, yet it all could have gone away in the snap of a finger. This dude could be sitting in jail right now with more than a decade left on his sentence if things went south. That’s fucking nuts. The story in the Daily Orange, Syracuse’s college newspaper, is three months old but I figured I’d fill you on with the big game coming up on Saturday. Here’s what Alton Robinson can do on the field….
Pray for Ian Book. Orange is the new fast.