After finishing as the national runner-up in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Brian Robison moves on to Indianapolis to compete in the 2006 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. MackBrown-TexasFootball.com caught up with him before he headed to Indiana.
Can you give a quick recap of your performances at the NCAA Championships two weeks ago? Discus didn't go too well for me. For about the last month, I've been in kind of a slump. Going into the meet, I kind of knew I wasn't on point, but I figured I'd give it a shot and do the best I could. When it comes to competition, you never know what's going to happen. It didn't go well for me, but in the shot put, I went out in prelims and all I was worried about was making sure I got a good, solid throw to get into the finals. That's what I did. I came out for the first throw of the finals and had a good opening throw. I had a few little things that were off, but overall it was a good day. I had a really good series, probably the best series I've had all year. Garrett (Johnson of Florida State) is a tough competitor, he came back in the fifth round and overtook me by an inch and three-quarters. That's just how it ended up. It didn't end up quite the way I wanted it to, I didn't throw as well as I wanted to, but I did my best, and that's all I could ask.
How does it feel to be a two-sport athlete and still be able to achieve being the national runner-up in the shot put? It's been a lot of hard work in the making. Doing football workouts in the morning, going to class throughout the day, and then turning around and going to track practice in the afternoon. At the same time, going to track and football practice in the same days during the spring. It's been a lot of hard work, and all I can really say is it finally paid off.
Talk about competing in the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this weekend. I'm going to Indianapolis for the U.S. national meet. It consists of professionals, top collegiates, everybody. I'm going in ranked No. 6, so I'm planning on trying to come out top three.
What is your mindset going into that level of competition? For me, I've been throwing well enough that I've just got to keep doing what I've been doing. You can't make it out to be more than what it is, so I'm just going to go up there and do my thing. My last two or three practices have been tremendous, probably the best three practices I've had since I've been at The University of Texas, so I plan on trying to hit that 70-feet barrier, and if I do that, who knows, I might come out on top.
How does having spring football during the track and field season affect you? It's really tough, because you're training for nothing but track, and it's kind of like a break, I guess you would call it. You have a point in there where you're not getting to train as hard as what you would for track. If during the spring I just did track, I'd probably throw a lot farther, but being that I am a two-sport athlete, you have to make sacrifices. That's what I do, I go out and make sure I'm there for the football team and make sure I'm there for the track team at the same time. Who knows, if I didn't have spring football, I might be throwing over 70 (feet) already, but at the same time, you never know. That time in there where I have both of them, that makes me work really hard, it might be paying off right now.
Going back to football, what are your thoughts on the defensive ends unit, which could be one of the best in the nation? We've got Tim Crowder across from me. Everybody knows he's a great asset to the football team. Brian Orakpo came in last year, and he's going to give us a lot of pass rushing ability. We've got a lot of young guys -- Eddie Jones, Lamarr Houston, Brian Ellis -- they're going to come in and give us some depth, and then of course there's Aaron Lewis and Chris Brown. I feel like right now, we could go three or four deep at each position, at quick end and power end. For us, that means a lot, because it gives me and Tim time, so if we need to come out, we can come out and trust the people behind us to do what they've got to do.
What will the next couple of months be like for you? I'll be focusing on all football. As soon as this track season's over, I'm going to come back, I'm going to get my body back in a side-to-side range of motion and just get ready for the football season. Once track's over, I'm back in football season, and it's all football from there.
What do you want to get out of your senior season? Everything I possibly can. I just want to go out there, do what I can for the team and win another National Championship.
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