Pittsburgh Steelers safety Kenny Robinson’s story is an interesting one, and not really because of his local ties. Sure, he’ll show you his 412 tattoo and those of the bridges of the city—he says a Steelers logo is coming as well—but his backstory goes beyond that.
He was expelled from West Virginia University for academic fraud in 2019. Rather than go through the transfer portal, he opted to enter the XFL Draft. He played for the St. Louis BattleHawks in 2020—and then was drafted in the fifth round by the Carolina Panthers a couple weeks later. How many can say they played professional football before being drafted?
Robinson spent his first three seasons in Carolina, albeit much of it on the practice squad. Signed as a Reserve/Future player by the Steelers back in January, he now finds himself with the opportunity to learn from the best—Minkah Fitzpatrick, the three-time All-Pro safety.
And he explained how he goes about doing that to reporters yesterday, via Amanda Godsey. “Just learning from his actions. Minkah, he’s not very vocal”, he said. “He leads by example, so just following him around the stadium, doing the extra work that he does, just sticking by his side will teach you a lot”.
Though Fitzpatrick hasn’t been participating on the field through the first few days of training camp due to an excused personal issue, he has been a steady presence and was around for OTAs and minicamp as well.
Robinson is fighting for a roster spot behind the top group, with Fitzpatrick, Damontae Kazee, and Keanu Neal locks at safety. He will have a hard time unseating Miles Killebrew as a core special teams player, as well, and Tre Norwood has been in the system for two years now.
Both have been making plays at camp, however, with Robinson having a big day on Sunday, including two interceptions. He got one off Mason Rudolph during the Seven Shots goal-line drill. He’s still searching for his first career interception, or even pass defensed, for that matter, having logged 188 career defensive snaps (and 295 on special teams, which will help).
It is notable that he does have a background of also playing cornerback, so it’s possible that the Steelers will try to flex him out and see how much they can ask him to do to give him the best chance to make the team.
One thing he does have is size at 6-foot-2 and over 200 pounds, which seems to be becoming a theme in their secondary. He does look the part, and he does have talent. Will he finally find a professional home in the area code tattooed on his arm? If that’s what he wants, he’d better start stacking strong practices. The next one’s in pads.
