Well, it’s not what you’re thinking.
Koren Robinson is indeed back in the NFL, landing back with the team that originally drafted him ninth overall in 2001, the Seattle Seahawks.
After the Green Bay Packers cut Koren back in May, I questioned who the hell was going to return kicks for our fine team. Fortunately, Will Blackmon, when healthy – which he now is for the first time in his three-year career – is a fucking killer.
But back to the point… Koren Robinson.
Seattle has lost Deion Branch, Bobby Engram, Nate Burleson, Ben Obomanu (who?), Logan Payne (huh?) and Steve Largent to injuries this season – the last four, season ending. While I have no sympathy for the Seahawks and The Walrus, Mike Holmgren, I’m glad to see Koren back in the NFL.
Sure, the guy has a history of boozing too much and gets into it with the cops from time to time, but who among us are not guilty of those same infractions? Judge not, lest ye be judged, Packers fan.
But I digress.
Koren has a world of talent, and if the Packers didn’t already have 13 receivers on the roster, I would have loved to see the guy in the Green and Gold again this year. No, I’m not suggesting that the Packers are the Raiders, but I, for one, am happy to give someone who has screwed up a second chance if that person shows they are really trying – and it also helps if they have the potential to take a kickoff to the house every time they field a ball. Robinson, by all accounts, was trying to get his life on track in his short stint in Green Bay and it seemed as if he was succeeding, until he fell prey to stern hand of justice known as Ted Thompson.
Interestingly, Andrew Brandt, the Packers former salary cap manager and now a contributor for NationalFootballPost.com, posted about the Packers history with Robinson on Tuesday, and it’s one that runs a little deeper than we’re all familiar with.
In 2001, we traded my former client and good friend Matt Hasselbeck to the Seahawks in order to move from #17 in the first round to #10. As Ron Wolf explained the trade, there were certain blue-chip players in the draft and we were aiming to get one of them. As the draft unfolded, however, a lot of our targets went off the board – Richard Seymour, Justin Smith, Gerard Warren and, yes, Koren Robinson. Seattle snatched up Koren with the pick before us and we went on to select Jamal Reynolds (no need for further comment here).
And then…
However, when [the Vikings] released Koren to avoid guaranteeing his salary prior to the first game of the 2005 season and we lost Javon Walker for the year in a game against the Lions that same weekend, I spent the entire night after the game trying to sign Koren. We were unsuccessful as Koren continued to feel loyalty toward Coach Tice who recruited him when no one else would.
Finally, the Packers signed Robinson in 2006, even though a league suspension was dangling over his head. Robinson played four games with the Packers before that year-long suspension came. He played nine games for the Packers in 2007, recording 21 receptions for 241 yards before Ted Thompson’s choice of Jordy Nelson in 2008 NFL Draft spelled the end of Robinson’s tenure in Green Bay.
A lot of people don’t care for Robinson, but regardless of how anyone feels about the guy, I say, give ’em hell, Koren!
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