The Northern Star interviewed NIU quarterback Stacey Robinson April 27 about his feelings concerning his recent suspension from the football team and the reasons for it.

NS: Will you be eligible next semester?

Robinson: Yeah, I will be, no question about it.

NS: Based on what you know, or what people are telling you?

Robinson: What I know.

NS: How are you doing this semester?

Robinson: I guess you can say I got off to a slow start, but my back was up against the wall and it took me a while to respond to that. And coach Pettibone just ran out of patience. So basically it was his decision to (enforce) the team rules, follow through on team rules (with) no exceptions for any players. It can happen to anybody.

NS: Has the suspension caused you to buckle down academically?

Robinson: Not exactly that. (It’s) just that I have more time to study or whatever I have to do.

NS: Will you take summer classes?

Robinson: Yeah, probably so.

NS: Does your eligibility depend on having a certain GPA?

Robinson: Yeah.

NS: When will you know?

Robinson: Finals… are probably going to determine whether I go to summer school or not.

NS: Your grades will be good enough for you to be eligible?

Robinson: Oh yeah.

NS: Who has told you that?

Robinson: Academic advisers and professors.

NS: Who’s counseling you?

Robinson: The athletic counseling program. There are two guys: Don Bramlett (coordinator of NIU’a athletic counseling program) and our coach who’s in charge of players’ academics.

NS: They both say you’ll be eligible?

Robinson: Yeah, it’s not a question of me being eligible. The big issue was me being suspended. It’s not as serious as people may make it sound. It’s not that complicated. It’s just basically that one class that I really need.

NS: That one class will determine your eligibility?

Robinson: Right, that one class determines whether I go to summer school or not.

NS: Where are the rumors about you being ineligible coming from?

Robinson: In the newspapers they made it sound more serious then it really is and it’s not that serious. It’s not that big of a deal.

NS: How has this affected you personally?

Robinson: Well, the media is very tricky. When you do things great, it’s awesome. When you (mess)-up, it’s bad. Say for instance when I got home that same morning, when they printed that (story) in the Star, I had messages on my door, I had all kinds of stuff, people talking. It wasn’t all that serious. People get half the story and then fill in whatever they think sounds good or whatever sounds right to them.

NS: You want to be left alone?

Robinson: Right now, yeah.

NS: Was the problem that you weren’t going to class?

Robinson: What it is is basically I didn’t have time. I had a major project due for the class that I’m having problems with. And I wanted to do well on it because it basically determines whether I go to summer school or not. I didn’t have time to do it in the afternoon or at night. So I’d do it whenever I woke up in the morning, which is when I have that class. That’s what it all comes down to, just team rules.

NS: Are you studying more now?

Robinson: Well, now that I have time, I go to class.

NS: Thought about plans if you’re not eligible?

Robinson: No.

NS: Are you that confident you will be eligible?

Robinson: Yeah.

NS: Did coach Pettibone do the right thing in suspending you?

Robinson: Well, I kinda think that he’s looking out for myself and the team’s best interests. I can understand his standpoint about the suspension and everything. We had a talk and I told him I didn’t really have the time to spend, I didn’t have the time I needed to spend for that particular project, and he was like, “If you can’t follow the team rules and you don’t have time in the afternoons to do whatever you have to do, there’s only one solution,” and we just made that decision.

NS: How do you feel about NIU?

Robinson: Football is great and school is great. I’m just up here basically for my best interests because I want to be up here. It’s better then being at home and it keeps you out of trouble.

NS: Do you like your classes?

Robinson: Yeah, except the class I’m having trouble with… There’s like forty people in that class and the man that teaches it averages maybe fifteen students per class. That’s how boring it is—(not) criticizing the school.

NS: Other students have problems but you get in the paper.

Robinson: I guess that’s just the nature of being an athlete and being quarterback. I mean you can’t do anything wrong because it seems like the whole world will know about it. Things travel fast, I mean it was in The Chicago Tribune, way down in (the) Champaign News-Gazette. I was on the news in my hometown. Geez.

NS: So it all comes down to passing that one class?

Robinson: I’m passing that class right now. I need a “C”, at least a “C” in that class, and right now, with the project I just turned in and everything, that will hopefully influence the teacher, and also the finals. It’s all just a matter of me making a “C” in one class (which) has caused all this commotion.

Star Sports Reporter Wes Swietek conducted the interview.