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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (216995)	1/28/2003 9:05:13 AM
From: JHP	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

sad story with the center Relapse seen with Robbins By Ron Borges, Globe Staff, 1/28/2003 AN DIEGO - The odd disappearance and then reappearance of Oakland Pro Bowl center Barret Robbins the night before his team's 48-21 loss in Super Bowl XXXVII was not a simple case of another Raider misbehaving. It was the sad continuation of an ongoing struggle with a psychological condition, according to a half-dozen NFL sources with knowledge of the situation. In December 1996, Robbins was found wandering through the team hotel in Denver, disoriented and unable to find his room the night before a game with the Broncos. He was given medical attention at the time by team doctor Robert Albo and later diagnosed as suffering from chronic depression. He also was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, a condition that can be controlled to some extent with medication. He missed the final two games of that season and began to take medication to control his mood swings. Robbins apparently had similar bouts with the problem in college, and both his parents suffer from manic depression. According to several NFL sources, the medication helped control Robbins's condition, though one said there were several lesser incidents of odd behavior this season that irked some of his teammates. During Super Bowl week, Robbins was seen several times walking around the team hotel wearing a stocking cap and dark glasses. He refused to answer questions during one of the weekly media sessions but the following day seemed buoyant as he did a mock interview with teammate John Parrella. Robbins had come into the week with both a foot injury he had been battling for some time and a minor knee injury sustained in the AFC Championship game. Because of that, he was listed as questionable for the Super Bowl. Head coach Bill Callahan had growing concerns over Robbins's physical condition, and he told Robbins following practice late in the week that he might be replaced by Adam Treu. Apparently upset over his likely benching in the biggest game of his life, Robbins left the team hotel in La Jolla sometime after the 11 p.m. bed check Friday night. He reportedly was seen drinking at an after-hours club in the Gaslight District sometime after 3 a.m. Saturday and according to several teammates later ended up in Tijuana, which is a short drive across the Mexican border. Robbins missed the team meals, meetings, and a morning walk-through Saturday. It was then that Callahan decided to go with Treu, informing him around 3 p.m. that he would start in Robbins's place. When Robbins resurfaced Saturday night around 8 in La Jolla, an angry Callahan told him not to attend a team meeting scheduled for 8:45. Several NFL sources said Robbins appeared disoriented and distraught when he arrived at the team hotel. Robbins's wife, who was staying with other team family members at a different hotel, was contacted, and she came and took Robbins to her hotel. At some point Saturday night, Robbins was examined and treated by two local doctors who were part of the league's Emergency Response Team, Ricardo Martinez and Til Jolley. No banned substances were found in his system, several sources confirmed. The doctors recommended Robbins be hospitalized for observation, which he was, and he remained in a San Diego hospital yesterday while the team returned to Oakland. He did not return to Oakland before the game, as was reported Sunday. Robbins had been scheduled to go to Hawaii today to represent the Raiders in the Pro Bowl, but that trip has been canceled. It would have been the first Pro Bowl appearance for the eight-year veteran out of TCU. The Buccaneers' Jon Gruden, who coached Robbins for four years in Oakland, said, ''It was a very emotional time for him and his family, and I pray that everything works out OK for him. It's a tragedy and that's all I can say at this time.'' After Sunday night's 48-21 loss to Tampa Bay, several of Robbins's teammates spoke angrily about his absence, with fellow offensive lineman Mo Collins among the most outspoken. Collins said he would accept Robbins back ''as a business partner but not as a brother. A brother wouldn't leave you hanging like that.'' Linebacker Bill Romanowski said, ''Obviously, the guy has a problem. He's got to get some help. I don't know what the problem is, but I just know that for someone to miss the Saturday walk-through the day before the Super Bowl, he has got to have something wrong going on. ''Hopefully for his sake, for his family, he's able to get his life cleaned up, whatever there is. I don't know his problem. I don't know his issues. I just know there's got to be a major problem for that to happen the day before the Super Bowl.'' This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 1/28/2003. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company. [ Send this story to a friend \| Easy-print version \| Search archives ]