Jan. 14, 2008
The following story appears in the January edition of KnightVision. Produced 10 times per year, KnightVision is the official publication of the UCF Athletics Asssociation. Each issue includes stories about UCF teams, student-athletes and coaches. To order 10 exciting issues from August through June, call 1-888-877-4373 (ext. 121) or 336-768-3400 (ext. 121).
Robenson Jean was going to get on the field for at least one play in his college career and he did not care if it meant running out on the field without proper orders from the UCF coaching staff.
"All I wanted was one play," Jean said. "I had to be out there with my teammates for just one play. I was going to run out there and tell one of my teammates to go back to the bench."
It is unusual to hear such a defiant statement coming from a young man who spent 16 months taking orders from his military superiors and fighting for his country in Iraq, but that is how passionate Jean was about stepping on the football field for just one play.
A little glimpse into Jean's life and one can see why that one moment would mean so much to the now 26-year-old, who is on pace to graduate in May of 2008 with a degree in business management from UCF.
Jean was a standout linebacker in high school at Delray Beach High School and following his senior season, he had his sights set on playing major college football. Programs like West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Fresno State and Kentucky were all showing interest in Jean, but academic shortcomings derailed those plans.
A Haitian by birth who came to the United States as a nine-year old, Jean found himself at Valencia Community College and enrolled in the Army Ranger's `Weekend Warrior' program. Jean was always interested in the military, having participated in the R.O.T.C. program while playing football at Delray Beach.
"I really enjoyed R.O.T.C. in high school and knew if I couldn't play football right away that I could always pursue a military career," Jean said.
Little did he know his weekend commitment to the U.S. Army would turn into a tour of duty in a foreign war zone just a few months after his enrollment in the program. His unit was one of the first ones on the ground in Iraq and this came after a month of intense training at Fort Benning in Georgia.
His service, which was supposed to end in April of 2003, lasted nearly a year longer than he had anticipated, but Jean never lost his desire to play college football.
So, when he returned home to West Palm Beach in April of 2004, Jean began weighing his options and looking for the best place to not only continue his education, but also get a chance to play the game he loved. This pursuit was put on hold for nearly a year because that is how long it took for his life to return to some form of normalcy outside of a war zone.
It was a year that Jean spent mostly isolated at his family in home in Delray Beach trying to overcome the effects of what 16 months in Iraq will do to your mind.
"The littlest noises would spook me," Jean said. "I still thought the Iraqis were around me. I would be driving with my Mom and she would run over something in the road and I would cringe thinking it might explode."
So, with his life and body now returning to the form that made him a prep football star at Atlantic Community High School, Jean enrolled at UCF. It would be another year before Jean got connected with former UCF offensive line coach Joe Gilbert and the 6-foot-2, 220-pounder got his chance to walk on to the football team prior to the 2006 season.
His junior year went by with Jean spending a majority of his time in practice as a scout team linebacker. The setback that made him reevaluate whether the sacrifices he was making were really worth it. Long talks with his mother and father persuaded him to keep his dream alive.
However, the 2007 season began the same way, but Jean wanted more out his experience. So, following the Knights' 64-12 loss to USF, Jean paid an emotional visit to his linebacker coach Dave Huxtable, who also serves as the team's special teams coordinator.
"I went to talk to Coach Hux and just told him I wanted to do more to help the team out," Jean said. "I wanted to contribute more than just in practice, I wanted to get in a game."
"Rob is usually a quiet guy, but he came in my office and I saw some emotion from him," Huxtable said of his mid-season conversation with Jean. "He got teary-eyed and I told him I'd give him a shot on kickoff coverage."
The defiant plan that Jean had drawn up in his mind to get on the field would not be necessary. Jean got the orders he had desperately wanted to hear since returning to the game he loved. He was given his first college play on the kickoff coverage team during the Tulsa game on Oct. 20.
And it didn't take long for Jean to make a positive impact.
"I will never forget my first play," Jean recalled. "I was running down the field and got knocked down and for a second I was laying there. Then, my military instincts took over telling me to get up.
"I remember seeing the ball carrier and just flying parallel to the ground and getting in on the tackle. My teammates called it the `Superman' play because of how I looked in the air. That is something I will always take with me and be able to tell my grandchildren about."
That one play and the pride it brought to one young man was just one of the few reasons Jean was selected as a finalist for the inaugural Rudy Award, given to the Division I college football player who best demonstrates character, courage, contribution and commitment as members of their team. The award is named after Daniel Ruettiger, whose story of triumph and dedication of walking onto the Notre Dame football team was made into a major motion picture, Rudy.
Jean did not win the award, it went to Kentucky's Terry Clayton, who went deaf as a five-year-old, but like Jean, persevered to achieve his dream of playing college football.
All four finalists in attendance at the inaugural banquet on Jan. 8 in Anaheim, Calif., could have won the award, but leave it Jean to be the first one of out his seat giving Clayton a standing ovation.
"His story really touched me," Jean said. "He was who I was pulling for all along."
Jean left Anaheim with more than just the $2,500 scholarship, an autographed football by the real life Rudy and the memories of being honored for the blood, sweat and tears he not only shed for his football team, but for his country as well - best of all he left knowing that his story is going to inspire some young kid or cadet to chase their dreams and never give up.
- Ryan Powell