WEBVTT - 1-on-1 with Brian Robinson Jr. | Episode 47

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Command Center Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. Sunday

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<v Speaker 1>Market The Next stopped an incredible journey for running back

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<v Speaker 1>Brian Robinson Junior. The rookie made his regular season debut

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<v Speaker 1>just six weeks after recovering from multiple gunshot wound. Robinson

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<v Speaker 1>sat down with me to talk about what the comeback

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<v Speaker 1>means to him, being the last one out of the tunnel,

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<v Speaker 1>having your name called. What were the emotions and that moment,

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<v Speaker 1>like for you, it was very emotional. I just didn't

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<v Speaker 1>want to find myself crying about it at the time.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, I'm just I'm a tough guy, man, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>and I just try to show people how tough I

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<v Speaker 1>am all the time. You know, Sometimes you can, I know,

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<v Speaker 1>I can let up off of it and just ease up.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's been a long six weeks, man. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>think it's really hard to kind of talk about sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>because like like ever since just the videos and stuff

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<v Speaker 1>been dropped, like dropped since yesterday, you know, social media's

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<v Speaker 1>just kind of been going crazy about it. Then you know,

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<v Speaker 1>just see it over and over again, and it's just

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<v Speaker 1>you just see how much love and respect, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>people got for me out here and you know, people

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<v Speaker 1>that feel the situation that I've been through. Man, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>just for it to be me, just like God, this

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't like, this couldn't happened to anybody. And it's like, man,

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<v Speaker 1>if anybody the worst person it's possibly could have happened to,

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<v Speaker 1>it could have been me, like just because of just

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<v Speaker 1>everything I've been through in my life to get here,

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<v Speaker 1>And like I didn't really want to get into depth,

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<v Speaker 1>like in detail about just like how my life was

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<v Speaker 1>growing up. But you know, just stand away from gun

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<v Speaker 1>violas and stuff like that that goes on very often

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<v Speaker 1>at home. Back at home, man, you know, what happened

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<v Speaker 1>to me just so random, you know. So to be

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<v Speaker 1>able to recover from what I recover from and be

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<v Speaker 1>able to come back and play NFL football game, I

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<v Speaker 1>never heard nobody in the world ever did nothing like

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<v Speaker 1>that before. So just from recovering from what I went through,

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<v Speaker 1>just made history, you know. So I imagine you probably

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<v Speaker 1>asked yourself the question like why me just listening to

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<v Speaker 1>you right there? Um and the different emotions that do

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<v Speaker 1>come with that. How have you processed m going through

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<v Speaker 1>all those emotions and answering why me? And being, as

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<v Speaker 1>you say, mentally tough. I know, there have to be

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<v Speaker 1>moments that you're probably just not and you have to

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<v Speaker 1>acknowledge and recognize that in order to be mentally tough. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>how have you gone about processing that? I just had

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<v Speaker 1>to accept it, you know, I had to accept what happened,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, even though I didn't want to. I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>want to accept the fact that, you know, I was

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<v Speaker 1>physically harmed by some strangers. But it's the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>you know I could, I could make the strongest recovery

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<v Speaker 1>ever and one of the biggest comebacks in sports history possibly,

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<v Speaker 1>and you know, just another obstacle for me, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>in my life. Man, I just like I told you,

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<v Speaker 1>I've been faced with so much in my life, and

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<v Speaker 1>every time I'll just had my back against the wall,

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<v Speaker 1>I'll just fought my way up out of it. And

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<v Speaker 1>like I said, like just a by far the worst

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<v Speaker 1>worst situation I've ever been in, but another opportunity to

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<v Speaker 1>kind of proved to myself. You know, you know how

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<v Speaker 1>strong I am, you know, mentally and physically. So the

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<v Speaker 1>biggest thing, you know, just as far as processing right now,

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<v Speaker 1>I was just accepting the fact that, you know, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I was physically harmed by strangers. You know that I

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<v Speaker 1>still I still haven't identified yet, and the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>I got to just live with that the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>my life. You know, we saw your mom at the

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<v Speaker 1>game and the way that just like the teammates greeted

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<v Speaker 1>you on the field, understanding the journey that you've had

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<v Speaker 1>to kind of get back here and to get into

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<v Speaker 1>the game. How important has that support been because nobody

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<v Speaker 1>gets through anything or any challenges alone in life, and

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<v Speaker 1>the support meant everything, you know. You know, as soon

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<v Speaker 1>as I started to feel the love and from from everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I started to you know, believe that you know, I

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<v Speaker 1>would be okay, you know, because at the time, you

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<v Speaker 1>just like, you know, you mentally just everywhere you don't

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<v Speaker 1>really know where to be mentally, but like, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>support the support from the people that you know you

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<v Speaker 1>care about the most and that you don't care about

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<v Speaker 1>you the most, and you know it kind of make

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<v Speaker 1>you feel like, you know, you're good, You're gonna be

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<v Speaker 1>all right, you know, just kind of keep you grounded

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<v Speaker 1>and you know, keep you mentally in the places that

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<v Speaker 1>you need to be to take the next steps in

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<v Speaker 1>that that helped me you know just kind of already

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<v Speaker 1>you know, have a plan on how I wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>recover from that and what I needed to do to

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<v Speaker 1>come back, and just constantly like you know, keeping that energy,

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<v Speaker 1>like bringing that that good positive energy that I needed consistently,

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<v Speaker 1>like you know, day in the day out. You know

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<v Speaker 1>those days where you know, I was coming out to

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<v Speaker 1>the facility for you know, probably an hour or two

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<v Speaker 1>hours out of the day, I would go home and

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<v Speaker 1>I would have to like stay in the same place

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<v Speaker 1>on the couch for like the rest of the day

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<v Speaker 1>because I couldn't move. So you know, having my mom,

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<v Speaker 1>my family back at home, you know, uh support me

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<v Speaker 1>and you know take care of me for that time,

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<v Speaker 1>and uh, they don't realize how much I appreciate that,

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<v Speaker 1>because you know that's what that was the helping hand

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<v Speaker 1>that I needed to you know, just want to push

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<v Speaker 1>myself forward. Like and I'm a very independent person, so

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<v Speaker 1>I like to do everything for myself, so you know,

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<v Speaker 1>happening having a helping hand, it was like it was

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<v Speaker 1>new kind of new to me, you know, having somebody

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<v Speaker 1>to like have to really take care of me, like

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<v Speaker 1>every single day, like for the whole day. Just my

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<v Speaker 1>mom was taking me again like I was four or

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<v Speaker 1>five years old, So you know, I mean that meant

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<v Speaker 1>everything to me. Like that's all I really needed was

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<v Speaker 1>some support, you know. You know, I had an ambition

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<v Speaker 1>to fight back from it, you know, but the love

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<v Speaker 1>support just kind of kept me motivated. How's the body

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<v Speaker 1>feel now now that you've gone through that first game,

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<v Speaker 1>You've taken some hits and everybody's closely watching how you walk,

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<v Speaker 1>how you run, how's it feeling? Well? I feel like

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<v Speaker 1>I just played a football game, you know. So you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I took a few hits, but I walked away from

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<v Speaker 1>a fine. I'm okay. I actually got hit right in

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<v Speaker 1>the spot of you know, one of my injuries, but

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<v Speaker 1>it didn't it didn't bother me too bad. You know.

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<v Speaker 1>I shook it off. And does that become a mental

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<v Speaker 1>thing as well when you get hit there. It was

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<v Speaker 1>positive for me because I got hit there so hard

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<v Speaker 1>that like that was the test that I need. I

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<v Speaker 1>was like, okay, I'm glad that's over. Hopefully it don't

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<v Speaker 1>happen again like so soon. But that was just the

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<v Speaker 1>test I needed. When I got hit it and I

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<v Speaker 1>got up and I felt that I was like, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>it stung a little bit, but I'll be all right.

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<v Speaker 1>You know. So the fact that I know, walk off

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<v Speaker 1>the field healthy and you know, come back, return here

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<v Speaker 1>and get ready to do it all over again healthy.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you see the game any differently now I can say,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, just just my presence out there, like you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I almost lost that opportunity, so you know, everything is

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<v Speaker 1>just like light like bright light up in my eyes now,

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<v Speaker 1>you know. No, I've been playing the game for so long.

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<v Speaker 1>I've been playing for like almost eighteen years, like in

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<v Speaker 1>my life, so it's just always been football to me.

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<v Speaker 1>But now it's just like it's really my life. And

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<v Speaker 1>I realized how much that I put into this gaming,

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<v Speaker 1>into like bonding through this game, and it's just meant

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<v Speaker 1>so much to me. You know, just be back out there.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's next for you? What's next? Um? I just

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<v Speaker 1>want to you know, keep you know, making progress, making

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<v Speaker 1>stribs in the right direction. Uh, coming here every day,

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<v Speaker 1>finding new ways to get better, get my body feeling better, um,

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<v Speaker 1>get more involved into the game plan weekend, week out,

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<v Speaker 1>and you know, you know, just should help my team win.

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<v Speaker 1>Real great to have you back, and of the teammates

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<v Speaker 1>love having you back. We're expecting some great things now

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<v Speaker 1>that you're out there. So great glad to have you

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<v Speaker 1>here with us. Thank you, thank you for all your

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<v Speaker 1>news and analysis. Be sure to tune into Command Center

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<v Speaker 1>weeknights at five thirty and ten pm on NBC Sports Washington.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also stream on YouTube and commanders dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Heil to the commander,