A heralded recruit with a headline-making past even before he got to Gainesville, James Robinson has seen his playing career at Florida come to an end before it ever really got started.
In early September, doctors diagnosed the true freshman with a heart abnormality. Further genetic testing in mid-October, UF stated at the time, wasn’t expected to yield any results for at least another month. Friday, those results were made public, first cryptically by the player on Twitter...
... and then specifically by the football program in a statement that confirmed the wide receiver has not been medically cleared to play football at the university.
The combination of the health concern and off-field issues means that Robinson never suited up or took the field for the Gators.
Because of an August citation for marijuana, Robinson was suspended for the season opener. The fact that Robinson even made it to the Gainesville campus to be suspended initially served as somewhat of a surprise.
The four-star recruit was arrested for a pot possession offense during an official visit to Ohio State in late January of this year. As a result of his arrest, Florida reportedly was set to prevent the Gators from adding Robinson to their recruiting class. However, he did end up signing with the Gators this past February and was the team’s second-highest-rated recruit, behind only offensive lineman Tedarrell Slaton.