Fullback Michael Robinson is back with the Seattle Seahawks after suffering a health scare in August that twice forced him to be admitted to the hospital.
Robinson was released by the Seahawks during final cuts at the end of August. The team re-signed him to their roster on Tuesday and placed rookie running back Spencer Ware on injured reserve.
Robinson played in the first two preseason games for Seattle before becoming sick. At first, Robinson just thought he was coming down with the flu. However, his condition continued to get worse and the doctors initially didn’t know what was wrong.
Robinson had been taking a prescription anti-inflammatory medication, Indocin, and began to feel like he was coming down with something the morning of their second preseason game against the Denver Broncos. Robinson said he believes a combination of the medication, being dehydrated and actually getting sick led to “a perfect storm” of scenarios to cause real problems.
Robinson said his liver and kidneys nearly failed and he had to spend several days in the hospital. Robinson lost over 30 pounds in the process, dropping from his playing weight of 245 pounds all the way down to 212 pounds.
“I didn’t realize how bad it was until I was able to look back and reflect on it,” Robinson said.
Robinson said it took a couple of weeks for him to feel back to normal again and an additional few weeks for him to re-gain the weight lost during the illness. Robinson was set to make $2.5 million this year and Seattle couldn’t keep that contract on their roster with Robinson unlikely to be in shape to play for several weeks following the illness.
Robinson said he had visits with the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants in the past few weeks. He said conversations were serious with the Titans before the injury to Jake Locker forced Tennessee to alter their roster in other ways.
Derrick Coleman, Robinson’s replacement, suffered a hamstring injury last Thursday night against the Arizona Cardinals that head coach Pete Carroll said is expected to keep him out 4-6 weeks. The loss of Coleman prompted Seattle to reach out to Robinson once again.
“I understood that I had two preseason games. I knew they drafted a guy. I knew they were high on Derrick and I knew that I needed to be on the field to keep my job,” Robinson said.
“I knew there was a big chance that I would be let go. I was just hoping and praying for an opportunity to be able to come back and go to work.”
Healthy once again, Robinson is back leading the way for Marshawn Lynch. Carroll said they’re counting on Robinson being ready to play Monday night against the St. Louis Rams.