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Robinson Provides Wisdom for Rookie Class

Running back, jack-of-all-trades, special teams ace and now blogger, Michael Robinson is back at team headquarters after missing out on the team’s first two days of organized team activities last month.

But the absence was for good reason.

Robinson had been preoccupied with the creation of his foundation, “Excel 2 Excellence” along with his first football camp in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. Now that Robinson has the camp situated, he got back to work with his 49ers teammates for a morning organized team activity (OTA) on Friday before the start of a three-day rookie minicamp.

Being away from teammates was tough on the fifth-year back.

“I just wanted to see the squad,” Robinson said. “I had some free time this weekend and I had to make sure my guy (Navorro) Bowman got in alright. But a lot of it was me missing the guys and wanting to be around my teammates.”

The former Penn State quarterback has plenty of wisdom to impart on his new teammates, including Bowman, a fellow Nittany Lion like himself. Just being back at the facility reminded Robinson of the experiences he felt at his first minicamp with the 49ers in 2006.

“I remember life being a whole lot different back then from when I was playing quarterback in college,” Robinson recalled. “I was with the runners, individual drills were a lot different and my mind was spinning and I had never experienced offense as a running back every day. They might as well spoke a different language because I didn’t know what was going on.”

As Robinson can attest, the adjustment took time. But once he figured it out, Robinson took off with it, becoming one of the team’s most versatile players.

With a new set of rookies watching the veterans OTA session, Robinson can relate to what they must have been thinking. But as Robinson can attest, players with the right mentality will eventually make it in the long run.

“I know guys are seeing how fast we practice, but they have to understand the learning will come. They’ll get it. They just have to be patient and let it all come. They need to know that they’re in the league now and this is their profession. This is not an extracurricular activity. You can get fired and won’t have a job with the team anymore. You have to approach it that way, and if they do that, I think they’ll be fine.”

Robinson recently authored a blog on his own website, discussing what rookies should look out for in further detail.

We know Robinson already is impressed with Bowman’s abilities, but he’s also been taken back by the rest of the 2010 draft class.

“I see attitude. They all have a little attitude about them. That’s all embodied in Coach Singletary,” Robinson said. “The ones who will be here in the end are the guys who play with an attitude and a little bit of a chip on their shoulder.”

Coach Singletary also talked about his first rookie minicamp and much more after the morning session, watch the video HERE.

The rookie minicamp is set to begin, we’ll have more on the first day in the careers of Anthony Davis, Mike Iupati, Taylor Mays and many more.  Check back 49ers.com for more on the rookie minicamp. But in the mean time, check out the sights and sounds of the veteran OTA session.