Kickoff countdown: Who wore it best? #83

UGASports is counting down the days until the Bulldogs’ 2024 season opener. For each day in our countdown, we will reveal our opinion of the best player in Georgia football’s history to wear that particular jersey number.

With 83 days before kickoff, UGASports selects Mixon Robinson as the best Georgia player to wear jersey number 83.

Position: Defensive End/Tight End

Hometown (High School): Macon, Georgia (Lanier)

Height/Weight: 6-2, 202

Lettered: 1969-1971

Stats: 15 combined receptions for 183 yards at tight end as a sophomore and junior in 1969 and 1970 before solely playing defense as a senior in 1971.

Career: Before he became a long-time revered orthopedic surgeon associated with UGA athletics, Mixon Robinson was a versatile two-way player who “can do it all,” according to head coach Vince Dooley in 1970. By the end of that season, Robinson was Georgia’s starting tight end, finishing second on the team with 13 receptions, while also playing on defense throughout the year. Playing solely on defense as a senior in 1971, starting at one of the end positions, Robinson was recognized as the “big playmaker” of what remains one of the top defenses in Georgia football history. Notably, during the Bulldogs’ trip to Vanderbilt that season, Robinson began his Saturday gameday early at 8:30 am, or 11 hours before Georgia was scheduled to kickoff against the Commodores. With plans to attend medical school, he took the four-hour-long national medical admission examination in Nashville prior to making a key sack later that night, knocking Vanderbilt out of scoring range in a 24-0 shutout. Another big play of his that season was a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown during a 49-7 rout of Florida. In 1971, Robinson was twice named the SEC’s Lineman of the Week, elected the team’s permanent defensive captain, recognized as the team’s most outstanding defensive player, and selected first-team All-SEC. An Academic All-American, as well, Robinson in 1972 became the fifth (of only 14 in history) Georgia football player to receive the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

#83 Honorable Mention: DE- Cornelius Washington (2009-2012); TE- Kirk Warner (1986-1989); P- Jonathan Kilgo (1999-2002)

#83 Robinson and his Georgia teammates vs. Auburn in 1971, or what is still considered one of the most touted/anticipated games in Sanford Stadium history: