The last time I saw Bijan Robinson play football in person was in September 2019 at Tucson High. I haven't forgotten what I saw that night.
Robinson, a senior at Salpointe Catholic who had already committed to play for the Texas Longhorns, ran 47 yards for a touchdown early in the first quarter. On the next possession, he ran 60 yards for a touchdown.
Used sparingly by Lancers coach Dennis Bene in a one-sided rout, Robinson zigged and zagged 50 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. It was 48-0. Robinson had carried just seven times.
Rather than leave at halftime, I stayed to see if Robinson would get another carry. On the first possession of the third quarter, he bolted 92 yards for a touchdown. It was his eighth carry. He had 282 yards, or 35 yards per carry. Crazy.
Bene then removed Robinson from the game. Tucson High was 3-2 at that point. Certainly not a weak opponent. Robinson was just that good.
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Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson runs against New Orleans Saints defensive end Tyree Wilson during the first half at Caesars Superdome on Oct. 5, 2026.
I remember thinking: Bijan could be in the NFL someday.
That someday is now. I turned on Monday Night Football last week — Robinson's Atlanta Falcons against the New Orleans Saints — and ABC illuminated this statistic on the screen moments before kickoff:
Bijan Robinson is the NFL's all-time leader in yards per game in Monday Night Football and all other prime time (night) telecasts dating to 1970. The career leaders:
Bijan, 145.4 yards per game. (He has played 12 prime time games)
Barry Sanders, 126.3 yards per game.
O.J. Simpson, 123.1 yards per game.
Robinson opened the game by speeding 59 yards for a touchdown just 90 seconds into the game. He finished with 145 total yards, exactly his prime-time average.
Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson gives a speech at Salpointe Catholic High School during a ceremony to retire his jersey in Tucson, Ariz. on September 4, 2026.
A day later, The Athletic said Robinson “is on his way to Canton,” the location of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
What makes this all so crazy is that Robinson is just 24 years old. He hasn't entered the prime of his career.
Until I saw Robinson play his senior year at Salpointe, I thought Amphi High's Michael Bates (1986-88) could never be topped as the greatest running back in Tucson prep football. Bates gained 3,803 yards, then a city record, for Vern Friedli's juggernaut teams of the 1980s, a period in which Amphi won so many games by such wide margins that Bates often didn't play much of the second half.
Now I am rethinking my rankings of Tucson prep running backs. A few days ago, I asked Bates, a 5-time NFL Pro Bowl standout and 1992 Olympics bronze medalist at 200 meters, about his reaction to Robinson's rise to stardom. I mean, have you seen his Colgate and Sonic TV commercials and his many interviews on ESPN, ABC, NBC and FOX?
Said Bates: “Bijan makes it look so easy. It's like there's no stress on his body. He's effortless. He was the same way at Salpointe. I thought he had NFL skills when I saw him then.”
Robinson completed his Salpointe career with a state-record 7,036 rushing yards, surging past Tucson prep legends Ka'Deem Carey of CDO (5,701), Kevin Schmidtke of Mountain View (5,440) and other historic running backs such as Fred Sims and Vance Johnson of Sunnyside, Joel Favara, Fred Batiste, Hayzel Daniels and Art Acosta of Tucson, and Amphi's Mario Bates, Michael's younger brother.
Those in charge of NBC's Sunday Night Football have been featuring Robinson all week in a much-anticipated showdown Sunday against Baltimore and its future Hall of Fame running back Derrick Henry. And why not? So far this year, Robinson has rushed for 494 yards in four games, putting him on a trajectory to reach 2,000 yards this season, which is certainly "bound for Canton'' territory.
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