Michael Robinson wears a lot of hats. As a sports commentator and reporter, he has worked for television and radio in Northwest Ohio for over nine years, while covering the University of Toledo Rockets from the sidelines for over eight years. He spent seven years as a high school football coach, helping young men at St. Francis de Sales School reach their potential.
In addition to all of these roles, Robinson is also the owner and founder of 4th and Goal Athletics, helping young athletes achieve their dreams while motivating them to pursue a life that will take them beyond the stadium. As a young man growing up in Shaker Heights, it was football that gave him the opportunity to go to college, a path that was not always clear for him.
“Football was one of my first loves,” Robinson said. And thanks to a scholarship, he was able to attend the University of Toledo. While his love of football was a constant, the focus of his college studies changed frequently as he switched majors more than five times.
“I wanted to get back to football somehow, and I wanted to coach, and I wanted to develop young people so that they didn’t have to make the same mis-steps that I made, so that they could be successful at a faster clip,” he said.
In 2010, he founded 4th and Goal Athletics at the age of 23.
“I was coaching at St. Francis, and I would ask my players, ‘What do you guys do in the off season?’”
Their response would be: “‘We don’t do anything. We just wait until June when football camp starts back up,’” he said.
He realized that there was an opportunity to offer more to these young athletes than just sports training. Through weekly training sessions, events, and yearly camps, Robinson provides the motivation and discipline that will help these kids succeed.
“We’ve hosted over 1500 events since 2010, and we’ve worked with over 60 to 70,000 student athletes, with close to $100 million in scholarships.”
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Recently, 4th and Goal hosted their fourth annual camp that brings NFL players to help share their skills as well as their stories.
“It was amazing. This is our fourth year doing that camp with guys that have been in our program, like Tycen Anderson from St. John’s who plays for the Bengals, and Bryant Koback who played for Springfield and the University of Toledo. This year, we had 400 kids out there. What an amazing opportunity for them to come out and compete and spend two hours with some NFL guys.”
“Athletics is always one thing that goes hand in hand with education. ‘I’m playing football in order to go to college for free.’ That mentality shift is what I try to get out to the kids, because you’re not going to convince them that reading a textbook is the way,” he said.
Robinson sees these camps as an opportunity to inspire young athletes to dream big dreams.
“In the African American community, a lot of young black kids, depending on where you live, won’t see a lot of doctors and lawyers and professional players. Sometimes it just takes seeing it to believe it,” he said.
“For them to see that it’s possible to come from Toledo and see your dreams come true, with some hard work and some discipline and the right amount of athleticism, you can reach your goals. That’s so important for me.”
Get to know Michael Robinson
Tell us about your family!
Wife, Tiffany, daughter Riley (age 6) and son Michael Junior (age 3 ½)
What do you like to do on a day off?
I like to golf, I like to run and I like to work out.
Favorite local restaurant?
Pizza Papalis. I started 4th and Goal with my tip money that I earned from delivering at Pizza Papalis. The best wings in town!
Favorite local metropark?
I’m the Mayor of Wildwood!
Dream vacation?
I want to go to Japan and visit one of the futuristic cities to see what life is like outside of the world we live in here in America.
Any hobbies?
I’m starting a run club in downtown Toledo, getting a group of people to meet up every Sunday for an hour and a half or so, and run for 2 miles. You can walk it, you can run it. Just coming together in the name of health and wellness.
Who’s on your playlist when you work out?
Frank Sinatra. When we work out at Wildwood Park, that’s what I make my kids listen to. I get a lot of comments from people at the park. “You like Frank Sinatra, too?” It’s always a good conversation starter. Who doesn’t like Ol’ Blue Eyes?
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