Colton Robbins made a huge impact on the football field for North Greene. His head coach, Eric Tilson, talked about an even bigger impact off it.
That’s why Robbins was chosen the 2024 National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award winner for the Mountain Empire Region. His on-field stats earned him all-state recognition his senior season. Off it, he is literally above the clouds, working on his private pilot certification.
In addition, Robbins has taken many AP dual-enrollment and upper-level honors courses with a 4.31 GPA. He was Tennessee Scholar and earned the certificate of honor for highest average in algebra III. There is also his involvement in numerous clubs and currently pursuing Eagle Scout. After high school, he plans to attend Middle Tennessee State and major in Aerospace.
For a moment Saturday morning, he allowed himself to think about being handed the prestigious award meant.
“This means more than you can imagine,” Robbins said. “I enjoy my time as a student as much as an athlete. I’m always about gaining new knowledge. My love of aviation started with my dad, who’s an aircraft mechanic. I love the feeling of being in the air, the sense of freedom of being a pilot.”
Back on the ground, Robbins became the first North Greene player honored with the NFF award.
“He’s the exact representative of who we want out of the football program,” Tilson said. “He’s the salutatorian of the class and involved in about everything on campus. The way he conducts himself in the classroom. He’s humble and you’d never know he has all these accolades.”
The accolades are plenty.
Robbins served as team captain and played tight end and defensive end for the Huskies. His senior season, he piled up 71 tackles, nine for a loss, six sacks, two fumble recoveries and two defensive touchdowns. As a tight end, he had 24 catches for 312 yards and two touchdowns.
He was a two-time all-region and four-time all-conference selection and named 5StarPreps special teams player of the year. Most important to Robbins are the lessons he’s learned in sports. As an outfielder, he’s also an all-state baseball player at North Greene.
“Football has taught me a lot of life lessons,” Robbins said. “It’s taught me to never quit when times are tough and how to push through.”
Other players who represented their schools were Auston Caraway (Cloudland), Henry Hamlin (Daniel Boone), Nigel Vidale (Dobyns-Bennett), Luke Whaley (Elizabethton), Corbin Cannon (Greeneville), Elijah McKinney (Hampton), Joseph Sowards (Happy Valley), Connor Simcox (Johnson County), Jimmy Phipps (Tennessee High), Wyatt Moody (West Greene) and Joshua Seto (West Ridge).
OTHER HONOREES
Three individuals were inducted into the NFF Hall of Fame as Legends of the Game: Tusculum coach Billy Taylor, former Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Heath Miller and Cecil Puckett, an all-state performer in four sports at Dobyns-Bennett.
Billy Taylor was honored for his playing career at Morristown West and East Tennessee State and his 35-year career as a college coach. He served as ETSU defensive coordinator before the school dropped the football program in 2003 and once it was reinstated in 2015. He was named head coach at Tusculum earlier this year.
“My goal was never to be the coach at Notre Dame. It’s always about representing football in East Tennessee,” Taylor said. “Faith, family and football, these are the things passionate to me.”
Miller was a two-time, AP all-state selection at Honaker before earning All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors at Virginia. He became the first ACC player to win the John Mackey Award as nation’s best tight end his junior season. He made the jump to the NFL where the two-time Pro Bowl selection won two Super Bowls and ended with 6,569 yards and 45 touchdowns on 592 receptions.
Puckett, who captained D-B’s 1945 state championship team, served in the Army and later was head football, basketball and baseball coach at Tennessee High. He was a football coach at Ross Robinson Middle School for 14 years and worked in the Kingsport school system throughout his life.
Robbie Norris, who served as Sullivan North coach from 2005-17 and was then the school’s athletic director, was given the John Robert Bell Award, named for the former ETSU coach. During his tenure at North, the Golden Raiders made nine playoff appearances, won two conference championships and reached the state quarterfinals twice. After serving as offensive coordinator at West Ridge following Sullivan County school consolidation, Norris is now an assistant at Rye Cove.
Garry Roberts was honored with the James Cradic Award for one who has impacted TSSAA Region 1 officials in a positive way and has helped the NFF grow amateur football. Roberts has been a TSSAA official for 55 years, and also has a long history as a college football and basketball official.
