Robinette opens up about DOD policy shift, plans for his future
On Sept. 7, as the NFL readied for another season, one player who had long envisioned being a part of it celebrated the start of a new chapter. A different chapter.
Jalen Robinette, the Air Force Academy’s all-time leading receiver, graduated and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. In November, he will leave Colorado for Nevada, where he will serve as a logistics readiness officer at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas.
It’s far from the life Robinette imagined a year ago, as he balanced six courses to complete his degree with training in Centennial to prep for the NFL combine and make the leap to the pros.
He was told then he had a shot, thanks to the U.S. Department of Defense’s pro sports policy that was revised in the summer of 2016. The alteration created an avenue for graduating cadets to turn pro immediately by applying for ready reserve status and deferring their required active duty.
But on April 26, the first day of the threeday NFL draft, the Air Force notified the academy it wouldn’t approve any requests for ready-reserve status.
“A part of me wanted to be angry, a part of me wanted to be sad, but a big part of me understood that I came to the academy and I know what I signed up for,” Robinette said. “It’s to do something that’s bigger than me, bigger than football.”
Robinette didn’t get drafted and had to make calls to beg for a tryout.
He got two, with the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots. But neither was willing to sign Robinette and place him on reserve.
“It was pretty tough just to see all the hard work I put in throughout that semester, and it just kind of felt like everything crumbled,” Robinette said. “But I know what I signed up for, and I knew that the best day of my life was coming up later that year with graduation.”
He wouldn’t get that, either. Robinette was one of nine cadets pulled from the graduation lineup May 24 as the academy reviewed his eligibility and qualifications.
“I did make a mistake,” Robinette said. “I just don’t want people to think that mistake was made just so I could possibly go and play football right away. I just want people to know graduating and being in the Air Force was always my goal. That was always something I was focused on.
“When you grow up watching the NFL, when you play a sport and you dream of somehow putting on an NFL uniform, that’s a hard opportunity to pass up when it’s presented there for you. I’m someone who likes to pursue a lot of things. I’m someone who likes to keep doors open, and that was something that interested me, being able to put on an Air Force uniform and put an NFL uniform on.”
Exactly three months later, when NFL rosters were set, Robinette was granted his degree and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.
“It really meant everything,” he said. “My mom was out there, and I promised her I’d bring my degree back home since the day I left for the academy. It was just nice to fulfill that promise to her. It was a nice, big feeling of accomplishment and all those tests I took, all the early mornings, all the staying up late to do assignments. It just felt good to be like, ‘You know what? I’m glad I went through it. I’m glad I got it behind me.’ But also it’s that feeling of there are more opportunities out there, more doors to knock down.”
One of those is still the NFL. Robinette continues to train and is planning to balance his full-time job as an officer with a training regimen fit for a pro, just in case a team calls.