John Madden's lifelong buddy John Robinson: 'Just two doofuses from Daly City'
LOS ANGELES — They became football legends, although not the way they once planned.
John Madden and John Robinson rose to prominence as coaches, not players, their lives had intertwined since they met as fifth-graders at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in a neighborhood south of San Francisco.
"Just two doofuses from Daly City," said Robinson, 86, the former USC and Rams coach wistfully repeating a phrase the two pals used often over the course of their nearly 80-year friendship.
They met as rival catchers at a youth baseball clinic, each sizing up the other and essentially saying, "Well, I know I can beat out that guy."
They became fast friends, two dreamers dead set on playing professional sports while, in their minds, setting objectives that were realistic and readily reachable.
"Our plan was to
