Nate Robinson’s 6-year-old son packs serious football punch
Across the country, NBA stars are finding new ways to occupy the time in which they previously would have been working out fiendishly or gearing up for forthcoming training camps. While Luke Walton has landed a job as an assistant coach for the Memphis Tigers, Thunder mighty-mite guard Nate Robinson is focusing on matters closer to home … like developing his son Nahmier Robinson's latent football talent.
No, Nahmier Robinson isn't a budding high school star or even a prospective junior pee-wee, pee-wee or midget Pop Warner champion. Rather, the younger Robinson is only 6 years old. Yet that doesn't mean he can't pack a punch with bruising tackles, particularly when spurred on by his father, who was once himself a high school football star at Seattle (Wash.) Rainier Beach High.
As you can see above, Nahmier Robinson -- nicknamed "Me" by his Dad, the cameraman -- whiffs on connecting cleanly on his first attempt at a tackle during a recent youth football practice. That's when Nate Robinson steps in, advising his son to "hit them before they hit you," and "chop those feet!"
Little Robinson (that sounds a bit redundant, doesn't it?) apparently took that advice to heart, exploding forward to meet the practice session running back with flattening tackles, earning a jubilant response from Dad and his fellow youth coaches when he did so.
Of course, there are plenty of things that can be taken from this video. Some might argue that 6-year-olds have no business playing tackle football. Others might chastise the elder Robinson for exhorting his son into displaying more physicality on the football field.
Still, those potential detractions aside, it's hard not to get a bit of a smile when seeing how excited Robinson is to be spending time with his son, helping coach first-graders and build on the Robinson family's rich football bloodlines; after all, Nahmier Robinson's grandfather, Jacque Robinson, is a college football legend who was named MVP of the Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl while starring as the Washington Huskies' running back.
Nahmier Robinson may have big familial shoes to fill, but at least we know he's getting off to a good start.
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