Eugene Robinson tells Panthers what not to do Super Bowl week

SAN FRANCISCO—Seventeen years ago, Atlanta Falcons safety Eugene Robinson carved his name in stone atop the list of all-time idiot Super Bowl moves when he was busted the night before the game for soliciting an undercover officer. Robinson had just collected an award for high moral character, was just hours away from the start of the most important game of his life, and yet here he was cruising through the Miami streets.

Robinson and the Falcons were humiliated in that game, a 34-17 blowout at the hands of, yes, the Denver Broncos. On Monday, Robinson spoke to the Broncos’ 2016 opponents, the Carolina Panthers, to give them a warning: don’t do what I did.

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Robinson, now a color commentator for the Panthers, spoke to the team in a private meeting.“He was basically saying don’t mess up,” Panthers receiver Brenton Bersin told the Charlotte Observer. “And don’t let the hoopla and all the stuff that’s available to you, you don’t have to be doing all that stuff.”

“That’s the first time I heard that story. I didn’t know anything about it,” tight end Ed Dickson said in a line that will make you feel old. “It says a lot that he would open up and say something about it. Because a lot of people would hold it in and not even talk about that moment.”

“It was painful. I cried the entire night,” Robinson said, recalling that night. “I was like, ‘How did I get so far over here when I was way over there? It’s easy to lose your way when you’re selfish and you’re only thinking about yourself. That’s what I did.”

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.