South Jersey native Dave Robinson elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame

And for most of that time Robinson barely spoke a word about it.

Robinson, along with former Eagle Cris Carter, was part of the seven-man Class of 2013 announced Saturday. Enshrinement will be held Aug. 3 in Canton.

Others in the class include Bill Parcells, Curly Culp, Jonathan Ogden, Larry Allen, and Warren Sapp.

When he retired after 12 seasons in the NFL, 10 with the Green Bay Packers and the last two with the Washington Redskins, Robinson, a native of Moorestown who played collegiately under a young Joe Paterno at Penn State, felt he had made his case. So did his late wife, Elaine, who knew it was inevitable he would wind up in the Hall of Fame.

So, even after he was nominated by the senior panel and made it to the final group for election this year, he talked very little about his chances.

"We never really discussed it," said Robinson's son, Dave Jr. "He's very superstitious. He's never been to the finals before, but he hasn't talked about it for 40 years. He made his case. What else could he have done?"

On Saturday, enough members of the Hall of Fame selection committee agreed and voted him in. Robinson was nominated by the seniors committee, which picks out players who might have been overlooked during the process and gives them another chance.

As Robinson pointed out, realistically it was his last chance.

"I wasn't surprised as much as I was just relieved," Robinson said in a ballroom at the New Orleans Convention Center, where the Class of 2013 was announced. "If I didn't make it this time, I didn't know what I was going to do.

"You can't get back on as a senior candidate. I'm 71 years old. I would never be back. This would be my one last shot."

Robinson had the credentials to make the Hall of Fame. He was all-NFL three times, made the Pro Bowl three times, had 27 interceptions, and was named to the NFL's all-decade team of the 1960s.

However, when you thought of the Packers defense then, you thought of Willie Davis, Willie Wood, Ray Nitschke, and Herb Adderley. All four of them, along with Henry Jordan, made it into the Hall of Fame, and there might have been some reluctance to elect another member of Vince Lombardi's teams.

Robinson becomes the 22d Packer and 11th player of the Lombardi era to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

He played in 155 games and was a member of three championship teams, two of them Super Bowl winners.

Carter, who played with the Eagles from 1987 to 1989 before starring with the Minnesota Vikings for the next 12, was voted in on his sixth try.