Tom Robinson: A life dedicated to a fair playing field

Tom Robinson, says his son, was a humble man who never made much noise about himself. How quiet was he? “A writer getting paid by the word couldn’t make enough off interviewing Tom Robinson to buy a stack of smokes,” one Denver Post scribe groused in 1966, when Robinson was an accomplished, if laconic, 20-year-old, three-sport star at Colorado State University.

Instead, he lived his entire life as the quiet epitome of fair play, and a fair playing field for all.

“He was not a man of many words,” said Colorado High School Activities Association Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green. “But when he did speak, it resonated.”

Robinson, an athlete, educator, coach, referee and administrator, was legendary for his work at Regis Jesuit High School, the Colorado High School Activities Association, the Big-12 and Pac-12 athletic conferences – and for being the shy Latin scholar who swept Denver’s most renowned dancer, Cleo Parker Robinson, right off her dancing feet back in high school. The two were Regis’ prom king and queen in 1964, and married in 1970.

“Tom has been the love of my life for over 60 years,” said Cleo Parker Robinson, who founded her famed company with her husband and others in 1970. “The journey he and I have shared was destined to be. We were devoted to one another in all things, to our family, our dreams and our community.”

Tom Robinson, ever understated and understanding, died Monday of cancer at age 76, just a few months before his second attempt at retiring as Associate Commissioner of CHSAA was to take effect.

Robinson, who took up refereeing as a side job in 1969, went on to become president of the National Association of Sports Officials. He officiated many college football bowl games, and in 2008 was named the nation’s outstanding college official by the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame. Only Robinson, it seems, could make it through nearly 40 years as a ref without being hated by seemingly anyone.

“Officiating is one of the most difficult things you could ever do, because you are only satisfying 50 percent of the people 100 percent of the time,” said Bert Borgmann, now in his 33rd year with CHSAA. “But Tom was fair, smart and very capable, so he was respected. More than that, he was liked.”

In 2017, Robinson was given one of the most prominent and pressure-packed jobs in sports: Running the replay booth for the classic 2017 NCAA football championship game won by Clemson, 35-31 over Alabama. That meant monitoring nine cameras in real time for every one of more than 220 plays. He was again honored with being in the hot seat for Alabama's 52-24 title win over Ohio State in 2021. "I am a blessed man," he said at the time.

“We join the Denver and Colorado high-school sports communities today in mourning the loss of Tom Robinson," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement. "He was also an exceptionally talented athlete, teacher, coach, husband, father and grandfather. Through his own skill and dedicated mentorship, Tom inspired and supported generations of Colorado students and athletes."

Making Colorado history

Robinson was just the second person of color to be hired as an administrator in the 103-year history of the CHSAA, where he was brought on in 2001, mostly to improve the professionalism of Colorado’s high-school sports officiating across the board. But one of his priorities was also to work for equity between boys and girls in terms of resources, number of contests and educational outreach. He got a bylaw passed that said if any official signed up to referee the boys’ state basketball tournament games, they had to referee the girls’ games as well.

Soon after, he became the first administrator to assign a female official to a boys basketball Final Four game. Along the way, he developed a highly emulated sportsmanship program based on the mantra, "Cheer for Your Team and Not Against Your Opponents."

Beyond his years of professional experience, people sought out Robinson for his counsel, his compassion and quiet positivity.

“We called him ‘the father of wisdom’ in our office,” said Blanford-Green, whose first move when she was named commissioner in 2016 was to ask Robinson, who had just announced his retirement as the organization’s No. 2, to stay on … at age 70.

“But Tom was a young 70-year-old,” said Blanford-Green. “I have seen 40-year-olds who couldn’t keep up with Tom Robinson.”

Blanford-Green has considered Robinson her co-pilot these past six years, so much so that in December, they announced their concurrent retirements effective at the end of the current school year. Robinson’s death, she said, is nothing short of devastating to the CHSAA team.

“I also lost my husband to colon cancer last March, right in the midst of the pandemic and trying to just get sports done,” she said. “Tom’s office was my sanctuary, a place where I could be vulnerable and cry and let my personal emotions flow. Tom gave me unconditional love and advice and guidance. He took me on just like a coach. He showed me how to pick myself up, walk out the door, turn on the switch and become the commissioner again. I could not have done that without Tom.”

Regis Raider roots

Thomas Edward Robinson was born December 15, 1945, and grew up in the redlined Five Points district, attending Sacred Heart School on Larimer Street. By the time he graduated from Regis Jesuit High School with an emphasis on Latin in 1964, he was considered one of the best all-around high-school athletes in Colorado history, having averaged three touchdowns a game in his final two seasons. His coach, Guy Gibbs, called his star running back “a coach’s dream” and the most mature kid he’d ever seen.

“I’ve never seen him get mad,” Gibbs told a reporter in 1963. “Most teenagers are pretty volatile. They’re (either) exuberant or depressed. Robinson never showed either of those emotions.”

Sixty years later, friends are saying essentially the same thing: “He never got down, and he never got too excited,” said Borgmann. “Part of that comes from coaching, part comes from teaching, and part of that comes from being an official. But mostly that’s just who he was.”

Back in those days, journalists called star football players “terrorists” of the gridiron, and Robinson was given the nickname “The Bomb” as an All-American at CSU, where he also competed in basketball and track. After graduating, he had a tryout with the San Francisco 49ers, but his NFL dream was wiped out by an injury. So he came back to Denver in 1969 and rejoined Gibbs at Regis as his assistant coach, advancing to the state basketball championship game together in 1979. Former Regis basketball player Paul Saulino called Robinson “a great man with integrity and passion, with a unique ability to motivate.”

Robinson taught all levels of math at Regis from 1969-2000 and coached multiple sports, including succeeding Gibbs as head basketball coach from 1983-93. Along the way, Robinson earned his master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Denver and took on two other big jobs: Serving as business manager for Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, and father to the couple’s son, Malik, now the company’s Executive Director.

But while Robinson left the teaching profession to join CHSAA in 2001, Borgmann said, “He never stopped teaching. He has been a teacher his whole life.”

Robinson agreed to serve on Regis’ first diversity committee in the 1990s, and a $500,000 equity scholarship now bears his name. “My father strove to make a way for students of color to attend Regis, and he served on the diversity committee to make sure they were supported once there,” said Malik Robinson, himself a Regis graduate. “He also committed to making the Jesuit education available to girls and supported the start of the girls’ school there in 2003.”

Robinson served as a mentor to Saj Kabadi, now Regis’ Assistant Principal for

Mission, Ministry and Diversity. “No one had more of an influence on me in Jesuit education than Tom,” he said. “He always proceeded with tremendous grace, class and integrity.”

Blanford-Green credits former CHSAA Commissioner Bob Ottewill for making her the first minority hire at CHSAA in 1997, followed by Robinson. And they have not been the last.

“Even from the outside looking in, Tom was definitely a person to aspire to be,” said Rashaan Davis, CHSAA’s first-ever assistant commissioner overseeing activities. “He always seemed cool, calm and collected, which is something I know I needed. So, to be a staff member now and understand that Tom laid the foundation for me being a Black male working at CHSAA, it feels like standing on the shoulders of a giant, and hopefully the work we all do will continue his legacy.”

Robinson is also survived by his daughter-in-law Vianey and three grandchildren, Ximalma, Xareni and Nezahualcoyotl.

The family will host a visitation from 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, in the  Cleo Parker Robinson Dance theater lobby, 119 Park Ave. West. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. at the New Hope Baptist Church, 3701 Colorado Blvd. For details and a link to watch the service online, go to pipkinbraswell.com