Andrews super fan enters Hall of Fame
Andrews – As a member of the Andrews football chain gang for 40 years and someone who makes time to attend as many Wildcats home basketball and baseball games, David Robinson has seen all of the best athletes that have come through Andrews High School during that time.
So when Principal Lance Bristol called and told him he was going to join them in the Andrews High School Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday night, he was overcome with emotion.
“As soon as he got off the phone, he just sat there and wept,” said his wife, Barbara. “He was so happy. It was just something he never expected.”
Better known by his nickname, “Happy Jack,” David was first a manager for the Andrews football team in the late 1970s after his friends talked him into it. He then became a part of the “chain gang,” which means he’s responsible for helping set up the down and distance during all Wildcats games at Hugh Hamilton Stadium. He attends every road football game, too.
Bristol and Barbara knew David had been doing the chains for a long time, but nobody knew how long. So they both sat down with David and asked him specific questions to figure out how long he’d been at Andrews games.
By the end, they came up with an estimate of 40 years. This means if Robinson started doing the chains in 1982 and hasn’t missed a game since, he’s seen 456 straight Wildcats games.
“I just love football,” David said.
Barbara said he starts getting excited for football in June, talking about how he can’t wait to be back on the field. When she doesn’t go to the game, Barbara said David will come home and give a recap on how the game went. It won’t just be whether Andrews won or lost, but who played well, who didn’t and what the team or coaching staff could have done better.
This year was especially significant for David, as the Wildcats romped through the Smoky Mountain Conference on their way to their first conference championship since 1983. He’d watched as in the past three seasons Andrews had snapped decades-long losing streaks to Swain County, Murphy and then Robbinsville.
This year, he was especially excited to see Andrews beat the Bulldogs twice – first in the regular season, in a de-facto conference championship game, and then in the third round of the state 1A playoffs.
“It warmed my heart just to listen to him talk about it,” Barbara said. “It put him on cloud 9, I guess you could say.”
There haven’t been a lot of close calls in terms of keeping the streak going, but he did suffer one serious injury eight years ago against Cherokee. David was hit by a player, spun around and landed on the track.
His face was scratched from the top of his face all the way down to his chin, and he still has a blue scar on his nose from the incident. Even his glasses, which were deemed “indestructible” by Barbara before the incident, didn’t survive.
He enjoys interacting with people on the visiting sideline, which can include opposing coaches, band members and cheerleaders. And after 40 years, David has drawn quite a following.
Go anywhere in Cherokee County, and David is likely to have someone recognize him. Even across state lines in Georgia and Pigeon Forge, Tenn., he’s met people who know him and want to talk football.
Of course, that means asking if he’s still doing the chain gang, and the answer remains yes. Even David doesn’t know at this point how long he’ll keep doing it. When asked how much longer he sees himself hauling the chains up and down the field, his response was simple.
“When the Lord says you’re done,” he said.
In his long tenure on the chain gang, Barbara thinks her husband sets an example that everyone should follow. He has an incredible passion for football and his hometown, and has done whatever he can to be a part of the action for approximately 40 years.
Robinson is around something he loves, and whenever people see him, he brings a smile to their faces. It’s that combination that makes Barbara most proud.
“He knows several of them who are already in the Hall of Fame,” she said. “They all think so highly of David, and David’s just a person everybody likes.”