Bijan Robinson calls captain bid ‘one of the greatest honors’ — and he’s thriving

FLOWERY BRANCH — He’s an All-Pro, a top-10 draft pick, the second-highest-paid running back in NFL history and a former All-American, yet Bijan Robinson still places this moment on a pedestal.

He gathered with teammates around midfield at Mercedes-Benz Stadium following a late August practice, listening as coach Kevin Stefanski tabbed him as one of the Falcons’ five team captains for this season. Robinson, 24, is the team’s youngest captain since 2021.

“For them to name me as one of the captains, it was definitely one of the greatest honors I’ve had in this league, just in my football career,” Robinson said Thursday. “It’s always cool to see the guys just trust in a player, and I want to keep on just gaining that trust from them.”

Leadership didn’t come instantly for Robinson.

He arrived in the NFL as a 21-year-old trying to understand the league and learn his teammates. He wanted to let his play speak for him because “you can’t just come in here and start talking and expect people to listen to you,” he said. By his second season, he started talking, and teammates started listening.

Now, Robinson tells his younger teammates it’s fine to speak up and lead. But he also tells them he didn’t do it. That’s part of why his leadership style resonates — it’s genuine. He earned his platform, and as the Falcons prepare for a Monday Night Football bout with the Saints, Robinson’s voice is at the forefront of the team’s mental wiring.

Moments removed from a 21-point win over the Green Bay Packers and an individual performance that earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors, Robinson stood in the Lambeau Field locker room and said his mind was already on the Saints.

In past lives, Robinson said, the Falcons have won big games, vaulted to the top of the mountain emotionally and then fallen right back down the next week. He’s tired of it. He wants no more of it. And he’s spending this week ensuring his teammates understand his urgency.

“The past is the past. We got to put that one to bed, which we already did. I know how locked in these guys are,” Robinson said. “That’s been the message — we can’t have a game like last week and then go backward.

“Like, that’s the last thing we want to do. That’s the last thing that anybody on this team wants.”

Captain’s patch or not, self-motivated leader or not, his own comfort or not, Robinson was always going to take a leadership position. He’s a special talent, perhaps the NFL’s best player. Influence among his teammates off the field comes as a byproduct of the stardom he claims on the field.

The Falcons lucked out. Their All-Pro, all-world phenom just so happens to be a budding leader who, in his fourth season as a professional, has moved beyond celebrating player of the week awards and brilliant primetime showings, pushing instead for his teammates to move on. He wants to win.

And he’s setting the standard daily in Flowery Branch.

“I think when your best players are also your leaders, that’s a great testament to your roster,” coach Kevin Stefanski said Tuesday. “Obviously, Bijan has his own leadership style and just who he is every single day. I think that’s what I appreciate about him in the locker room, out on the field. He’s just himself, ultra positive, always looking to help out his teammates. And not to say anything about the player.

“The skill level obviously is also off the charts, but just the impact he makes on a daily basis is really because of the person he is.”

Stefanski views Robinson’s character as a testament to his upbringing. So, too, does backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who received a message from Robinson shortly after signing with the Falcons this spring. Robinson was the first member of the team to reach out and welcome Tagovailoa to Atlanta.

A seventh-year pro who experienced college stardom at Alabama and lived life as the face of the Miami Dolphins, Tagovailoa has dealt with no shortage of superherolike teammates. He’s also been one. One phone call gave him the impression Robinson is a rarity. The six months thereafter have certified his belief.

“That’s not something that’s normal,” Tagovailoa said. “It’s hard to find those kinds of people that are superstars but very humble. He’s driven by his faith, and outside of that, just him being a really good teammate, amazing teammate, smiles all the time. Sometimes I don’t know if he’s smiling like, ‘Stop talking, that’s it bro,’ or like he’s just that nice of a dude.”

Defenders may not view Robinson as so pleasant to be around.

He plays peekaboo with linebackers and leaves them filling the wrong gaps or grasping at air. Of his 349 rushing yards, which rank second-best in the NFL, he’s posted a staggering 322 yards after contact, according to Next Gen Stats.

All told, he’s forced 25 missed tackles in three games, and he leads the NFL with 467 yards from scrimmage. Falcons defenders quite enjoy the show they get to watch from the sidelines each week.

“He’s definitely the best football player I’ve ever seen in my life,” defensive tackle Maason Smith said. “He’s an even better human being outside of football, bro.”

Such is the consensus in Flowery Branch, where Robinson’s reputation as a person — and budding leader — is as distinguished as his on-field resume. He’s arguably the face of the Falcons’ franchise and an easy presence for soldiers to rally behind.