The newest chapter in Wan’Dale Robinson’s football story is the best one yet
By 6:30 p.m. Friday, most of the 100 guests on a pass list, and about 100 more people who weren’t but got clearance to come through, had filed into the Terrace Ballroom at the Griffin Gate Marriott Resort and Spa in Lexington. They were greeted by a seemingly infinite cash bar, 12 boxes of Mellow Mushroom pizza and three miniature arcade machines — “Street Fighter II,” “NBA JAM” and “Mortal Kombat II.”
The guest of honor, University of Kentucky wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, was a little late for his own party. But who could blame him? Hugs from every cousin, college teammate and high school coach he’d ever known were just brief retreats from nervous thoughts about the moment that they were all assembled to see, but that might not necessarily come on this night: his selection in the NFL Draft.
Six receivers were selected in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday, and that was a good thing, he and his agent thought, coming into the night. Privately, they’d been told the magic number was five — if that many guys went, it’d all but guarantee Robinson would be a day two pick. Still, nothing is guaranteed, especially when it comes to “The League.” Most mock drafts pegged the 5-foot-8 record-setter as a late third-round selection, maybe even a fourth-round guy.
So when Robinson got a call at 7:50 p.m., less than an hour into the second round, it took everything in him to not explode when New York Giants General Manager Joe Schoen said he’d be the 43rd overall pick. Nervousness morphed into the best version of joy, the version distinguishable from others by the speed and size of the tears flowing from one’s skull.
“Since I was 5 years old, that’s been a moment that I’ve been dreaming about my whole life,” Robinson said. “To have it all come to life, I can’t even put into words how I was feeling. It was great, though.”
In Robinson, the Giants — who ended up with the 43rd pick after a couple of Friday night trades — are getting one of the most versatile and productive players in this year’s draft. In his only season at the University of Kentucky, Robinson set single-season records in receiving yardage (1,334) and receptions (104). He caught seven touchdown passes, the most by a Wildcat since La’Rod King in 2011. He did it all with the help of a first-year quarterback in an offense installed six months prior to the start of the 2021 season.
New York also hitched its wagon to one of the slightest players available, by just about every possible measurement. Size was the biggest knock on Robinson, enough to push him down mock drafts in the lead-up despite an impressive showing at the NFL Combine. But where others saw liability, the Giants see opportunity: in a Zoom meeting with the front office and coaching staff earlier this week, the team told Robinson how they plan to use him, and that they had intentions of drafting him. New York at the time of that conversation had four picks between the third and fourth rounds along with a higher selection in the second round; he didn’t anticipate going to there in the second round.
Robinson joins a receiving corps that currently features Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard and Kadarius Toney. The Giants’ three leaders in receptions last season, though, were a tight end (Evan Engram) and two running backs (Saquon Barkley and Devontae Booker). Robinson, who lined up a lot at running back in his two seasons at Nebraska, is likely to be used in that role at the next level.
Incoming Giants head coach Brian Daboll, offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills the last four seasons, has been tasked with revitalizing the career of former first-round quarterback Daniel Jones. Doing that, one imagines, would mean supplying him with the best available weapons; with that in mind, his endorsement of Robinson is telling.
“I’m jacked to have you, man,” Daboll said on the phone call to Robinson.
Wan’Dale’s mother, Vicki, and father, Dale, were the first people he embraced when the call was finished. They were the people who drove him to youth football games in Louisville — his native Frankfort didn’t have youth tackle leagues, and if their son was going to play in the NFL someday, he needed to know what tackling felt like — and who forged a birth certificate so he could play youth football games in Louisville.
For the Robinson family, the phone call was the latest reminder that the most rewarding fortunes come from hard work, not short cuts. Dale — Wan’Dale’s father, trainer and yin to his yang — was incarcerated for most of his son’s youth. He got out of prison in time to see Wan’Dale emerge as one of the most highly sought after recruits in Kentucky history, and to guide him with the knowledge of what not to do as much as what to do.
“To see the emotion, and people hugging and being there for him? I can’t ask for a better picture and a better story,” Dale said. “It really hasn’t set in yet, just to understand that my kid is going to the NFL.”
As much as he’s “Wan’Dale Robinson, 43rd overall pick in the NFL Draft,” he’s “Wan’Dale Robinson, cycle-breaker.” He’s an overnight multi-millionaire, but hundreds of intense nights led to a life-altering phone call. Moments that played out on the grass at Western Hills High School, amid The Sea of Red and between the checkerboard end zones of Kroger Field prepared him for The Meadowlands. All that hard work meant nothing to most mock-draft makers, nor the butterflies that circled his innards as the second round commenced.
It meant something to him, though.
“If you really go look at the football player, you can’t tell me I’m not a top-50 pick,” Robinson said. “… At the end of the day, they’re gonna see a football player and not my size, not my height number. I felt like it would all come the way it’s supposed to be and I feel like I ended up where I’m supposed to be.”
After he escorted the butterflies out, the party raged on.
