If there wasn’t going to be football in 2020 because of COVID, Nebraska defensive tackle Ty Robinson was going to devote all his time and energy to schoolwork.
And as a pre-med major, that meant a lot of time and energy.
So he loaded up on classwork and it was a sound plan.
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“When COVID was here and we didn't know we were playing a season, I decided that I'd catch up on school, so I decided to take 19 credit hours (in 2020), along with us basically having three fall camps,” Robinson said.
“And then finally they were like, ‘Yeah, you're gonna have a season now in October.' And I was like, ‘Oh, well, bleep. Now I have to take these 19 credit hours and get ready for this season.'"
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Nebraska wound up playing eight games in 2020 between Oct. 24 and Dec. 18, and Robinson survived. He graduated last year with his pre-med degree and on Saturday was drafted in the fourth round by the Eagles.
He said balancing football and a challenging major like pre-med was rough but said he got terrific support as he navigated those challenges from Nebraska director of sports psychology Brett Haskell, who had an outstanding volleyball career at North Carolina Greensboro, where she also earned her masters in sports psychology.
"I went to them and Dr. Haskell and just asked, you know, how to balance (football and academics) and they gave me the tools and the ways that I could use to be healthy in both football and my school as well," he said in a Zoom call after he was drafted. "That whole department is tremendous.
“So definitely was a challenge I had to overcome but (manageable) once you have the right resources. So definitely was a big, big hurdle for me and (a big) learning curve. But when you have the right resources and the right people to help you out you can get through it.”
Because of the NCAA's COVID waiver, the 6-foot-5, 300-pound Robinson was actually able to play a sixth season at Nebraska. He only played in three games in a 2019 red-shirt year – then had the eight-game 2020 season and then started in each of the last four years.
He had just five sacks before his final season year before recording seven this year to go with 13 tackles for loss and 37 tackles.
He said finishing his undergrad degree was a big part of his emergence on the football field.
“Finally graduating and being able to fully dive right into football and give all my time to football, that really helped,” he said.
With Milton Williams signing that huge deal with the Patriots, Robinson will have a chance to play a lot this fall.
Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter and Moro Ojomo are still here, but Vic Fangio and d-line coach Clint Hurtt love to rotate. Four interior linemen played over 20 snaps per game last year, and you can see a scenario where Robinson is getting a chunk of Williams’ snaps in a rotation with Carter, Davis and Ojomo.
There are a lot of unknowns for any NFL rookie, but Robinson already knows what he’s doing once his playing career is over.
“I'd love to go back here to Nebraska,” he said. “We’ve got the Medical Center in Omaha, and I feel like it's one of the most prestigious in the country and I'd like to go into pediatrics when football is finally closed for me. But hopefully that's not for a very long time.”