Tony Robinson

Who is Tony Robinson?

Kevin Altona "Tony" Robinson is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins as a member of their replacement team during the 1987 players' strike.

Robinson played college football at the University of Tennessee from 1982 to 1985. After spending his first two seasons as a backup, he guided the 1984 squad to a 7-4-1 record and an appearance in the Sun Bowl. He led the 1985 "Sugar Vols" squad through a difficult first half of the season, and was a Heisman Trophy candidate until blowing out his right knee during a close game against Alabama. A few weeks after the season, he was arrested in Knoxville on charges of distributing cocaine, critically damaging his prospects in the NFL. He went undrafted in the 1986 NFL Draft.

In 1987, during the strike, Robinson played in one game for the Redskins after starting replacement quarterback Ed Rubbert was injured. He led the Redskins' replacement players to an improbable 13-7 win over a Dallas Cowboys team that featured a number of players who had crossed the picket lines during the strike. His role was loosely portrayed by Keanu Reeves in the 2000 film The Replacements.