Former Raider Pro-Bowl center Barret Robbins will be appearing on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumble this coming Tuesday. By this point, anyone familiar with his situation has a basic understanding of where he was that fateful night prior to Super Bowl XXXVII and the unstable mental condition that placed him there. That being that he went off of his medication and was drunk in a state of dimentia in Tijuana, Mexico.
Robbins was once thought to be the next great center in a short line of great Raider centers. A list that consisted of three names prior to Robbins arrival in Oakland. Those names were Jim Otto, Dave Dalby, and Don Mosebar. And in the days leading up to the Super Bowl in San Diego in 2003, there was no reason to doubt that assessment. But then he just disappeared.
His family was afraid that he might be dead and the Raiders had their fears as well but the team had to try and focus on playing in possibly the biggest game of any of their careers.
Robbins was eventually found but not only was he in no condition to play in the game, but Raiders had already been forced to make the decision to start the backup center and long snapper Adam Treu. And the result was not a good one. While the blame cannot be laid at the feet of Treu or squarely at the feet of Robbins, that would not squelch the overwhelming devastation that Robbins felt. He missed the biggest game of his life and let all of his teammates and fans down at the same time. He would never play another NFL game as his life would spiral downward from there. It culminated a few years later when he was in the news again after a scuffle with police outside of a nightclub in which he put a few officers in the hospital and was shot several times.
After that incident he has slowly tried to put his life back together. He has come out of hiding recently to finally try and explain why he was absent for the biggest game of his life.
In his interview with Bryant Gumble he will finally attempt to shed some light on the incident. What was going through his mind when he left his wallet and ID at home and headed over the boarder into Mexico? How close was he to losing his life that night and every night since then?
I for one and extremely interested in hearing what he has to say.
Ex-Niner, Raider Jeremy Newberry Retires
Former Raider center Jeremy Newberry has officially retired. He made the announcement on his Facebook page according to ProFootballtalk.com (At least it wasn’t Twitter).
He only spent one season in the Silver and Black, but he was a Bay Area guy through and through. Prior to his one year stint with the Raiders, he spent his first eight seasons in the NFL with the 49ers. He spent his college career at Cal and was born and raised in Antioch (far east bay) and attended Antioch High School.
His career was cut short by injuries but during his eleven year career he made the Pro Bowl twice in 2001 and 2002. He spent last season with the Chargers before signing with the Falcons prior to mini camps. But he realized finally that he was never fully recovered from the two micro fracture surgeries that he had on both his knees and it was time to hang up the cleats.
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