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Rex Robinson Rex was born March 17, 1959 in Marietta, Georgia. When he about 8 or 9, the first soccer style kickers were gaining recognition for their “unusual” approach to the football. Already a terror in the old game of kick ball, Rex would watch these foreign born kickers on TV and then go out to a field near his house to try and imitate them. He would kick for hours, just because he enjoyed it. Jan Stenerud, Garo Yepremian, and Pete and Charlie Gogalak were the pioneers that took kicking the American football to another level.
Even so, Rex kicked both ways as a kid, straight on sometimes, soccer style other times. As a ninth grader, a varsity kicker told Rex to choose one or the other so that he might gain consistency. He chose soccer style because he could kick it farther that way. His long field goal on the freshman team that fall was a 41 yarder. On the junior varsity the next year, he hit a 51 yarder that got so much publicity, a local TV station sent a crew out to see if it was legitimate. You have to understand; this was 1974, and a bit unusual for a tenth grader. It took a few tries, but he did it for the cameras and it was on the evening news that night. His two years on the varsity were very successful, kicking 18 field goals and he had several choices to play at the college level. He chose the University of Georgia.
Rex started at Georgia all four years and made All Southeastern Conference in 1978,1979 and 1980. He made the PLAYBOY Preseason All American team in 1979 and 1980. He was a consensus All American in 1980 and Georgia was crowned the National Champion with a 12-0 record and a victory over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. His 56 field goals ranked number two in NCAA history. He had two kicks of 57 yards and six over 50 in his career. His first PAT attempt as a freshman was blocked. It was a breakdown in protection; he never missed again! He made 101 PATs in a row during his career, number two in NCAA history at the time. At the time of his graduation, he was the leading scorer in SEC history with 269 points.
Cincinnati made Rex their sixth round draft choice in 1981. Rex was not able to unseat Jim Breech as the Bengal's kicker. The following year Rex played for the New England Patriots in what turned out to be a strike-shortened year in 1982. One of the most valuable lessons learned was that great success at one level does not guarantee any success at the next level.
Rex has worked in the field of Real Estate acquisition most of his career but in the past six years has devoted increasing amounts of time and effort to the success of young kickers around the southeast. He is available for small group and individual instruction from his base in Atlanta, Georgia. Articles written...
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