When Bijan Robinson proved the eighth pick of the NFL Draft, he did not get the biggest plaudits among the rookies for the 2023 season.
Such praise is usually the reserve of a new quarterback, and yet the Atlanta Falcons’ new running back has already merited no shortage of attention in the infancy of his professional career.
In his opening three games, he boasts 39 carries for 213 yards and 14 catches for 102 yards, as well as a solitary touchdown; impressive bearing in mind that the Falcons were effectively shut out in their first defeat against the Detroit Lions last week.
As the Falcons prepare to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, there is growing excitement about their new recruit’s potential for this season and well beyond.
“There are great expectations,” said Falcons coach Arthur Smith. “When you make investments, you have to make sure it’s the right person and you’ve got the right plan. So far, so good.”
Robinson, whose first name comes from a perfume from a department store where his mother worked when she unexpectedly fell pregnant, had an inauspicious start to life. For the first moments, he did not breathe, before his grandmother helped spark him into life, much to the amazement of doctors.
He has already become a larger than life figure, brought up in the game by his grandfather, Cleo, who worked as a match official in both American football and basketball and who would bring back programmes from matches. Robinson would cut out photographs of the players.
Despite being in the relative infancy of his career, already there is a growing brand around the 21-year-old from Tuscon, Arizona. Bizarrely, he has his own mustard range called Bijan Mustardson, described as “smooth and rich with a Texas kick”.
That said, mustard sales are probably not the biggest concern having earned an £18million four-year contract with the Falcons.
Close friends with the Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey, he already has aspirations of his own to hit the silver screen in due course.
For now, his focus is on a first trip of his lifetime to London and continuing to make his mark for the Falcons at what is a Jaguars home from home game.
