Victim of Robinson hit getting past depression

Most of us have seen the hit by now. Penn State quarterback (and current 49ers running back) Michael Robinson drops back to pass and is flushed out of the pocket to his right. He begins to scramble and points out a block, then nears the sideline as he crosses the 15-yard line.

Robinson has nothing to gain by staying in-bounds at this point, especially with Minnesota defensive back Brandon Owens heading toward him at full speed and with a perfect angle. But rather than trot harmlessly out-of-bounds (like an ordinary quarterback might), Robinson turns up and engages Owens in a violent head-on collision at the 13.

Robinson won.

The hit caused Owens to crumple backward awkwardly. Robinson, meanwhile, was none the worse for wear. He never even went down, proudly walking away from the collision, unaware that he had just ended a man's career.

Of course, Robinson never could have known the extent of Owens' injuries, which have led to two major surgeries and left him without full use of his right arm. Owens, in an article in the Post-Bulletin of Rochester, Minn., says he's past the depression that hung with him for months after that hit nearly two years ago.

Unfortunately, the writer doesn't go so far as to contact Robinson about the incident. It does state that Robinson tried to reach Owens after the game and has asked Penn State to refrain from showing replays of the hit on the scoreboard or the school's Web site. So obviously he feels some sense of responsibility for what happened to Owens. This just would have been a more compelling article if he was in it.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE, the San Jose Mercury News has a story about former 49ers offensive lineman Chris Dalman, who is now the offensive line coach at Stanford.

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