Tavius Robinson: Born in Canada, Made to Be a Raven

Tavius Robinson has become a defensive centerpiece with a physicality reminiscent of a Ravens legend.

By Ryan Mink

Tavius Robinson was at the 2023 Senior Bowl, bouncing from table to table doing interviews with NFL scouts when one caught him by surprise.

He doesn't want to say which team it was, but one team told Robinson they were concerned that he was too nice to be a good player.

"They were like, 'You're from Canada. You're this smiley, jolly guy,'" Robinson recalled. "If you look at the film, you know damn well that I'm not nice on the field."

Off the field, Robinson is a stereotypical Canadian. On it, he's the prototypical Raven.

As the Ravens kick off the 2025 season in Buffalo, a couple hours from Robinson's hometown, with what media outlets have proclaimed as the best roster in the NFL, Robinson is perhaps the most under-the-radar player. Yet talk to anyone inside the Under Armour Performance Center and they'll tell you he's part of their foundation.

"Make no bones about it, Tavius Robinson is a centerpiece in our defensive front," Pass Rush Coach Chuck Smith said this summer.

From Canada to Ole Miss

One of the first indications that Junior Robinson saw that his nephew had what it took to be a football player came at an amusement park.

As should be no surprise for the 6-foot-6 Tavius, he was a tall 6-year-old, meaning he was big enough for thrill rides at Canada's Wonderland.

"There's a lot of rides that a lot of adults fear to go on," Junior said. "He was willing to take them all on. He was fearless."

Tavius grew up in Guelph, Ontario, not too far west of Toronto. In a country known for hockey, Tavius started playing football at 10 years old, following the lead of his uncle and father, Patrick.

Junior was a second-round pick in the CFL and played 10 seasons as a defensive back for six different teams. It was an admirable football career, and one that Tavius could envision for himself. Tavius started his college football at the University of Guelph, just like his uncle.

But Tavius also had bigger dreams. In a hallway leading out to the field were all the CFL helmets, and underneath each, the alumni who played for them. At the end of the line was a generic NFL helmet with no player names. Robinson would eventually become the first.

"I would always touch my uncle's name and the NFL helmet as I was going out the tunnel," Tavius said. "I always wanted to go to the NFL, but I always knew it would be a lot harder. I thought it might be a rookie camp invite or as an undrafted free agent."

Tavius played two seasons at Guelph and probably would've finished there had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian U Sports League cancelled its 2020 season, but Tavius didn't want to stop, so he started to explore the idea of taking his talents to America.

"Indirectly, COVID was a blessing because it gave him that opportunity to really test himself," Junior said. "He was starting to take flight. I certainly was behind him."

Tavius' college roommate and teammate, Jake Bennett, helped him put together a highlight tape. The task of distributing it to American colleges was taken up by Eric Tillman, a longtime general manager for several CFL teams and former Senior Bowl executive director. Tillman had once extended the first Senior Bowl invitation to a Canadian university player, Tyrone Williams, a wide receiver who played six seasons between the NFL and CFL.

"I've always felt that there are a lot of really good young athletes in Canada," Tillman said. "I've always felt like it was sort of an underutilized resource in terms of the United States."

Nobody from America had even given Tavius a sniff when he was coming out of high school. After they saw his massive size (with room to grow) and relentless play on film, he was suddenly the Canadian treasure some of the biggest NCAA programs fought over. Robinson was about to start a summer job at 1-800-GOT-JUNK? hauling out people's trash. Instead, he turned into a college football treasure.

Jay Hopson, then the head coach at Southern Miss, called Tillman back within 30 minutes of getting the tape and said they were going to offer Tavius a scholarship. It looked like Tavius was going either there or San Diego State until Ole Miss, Tillman's alma mater, stepped up to the plate. Tillman sent Robinson's tape to Tom Luke, the assistant athletics director for player development, who got it to Head Coach Lane Kiffin.

"I said, 'Tom, look, there's a young man from Canada who's very raw, but I think he has significant upside,'" Tillman said. "'I think he can play in the SEC with a year of development, whether as a starter or as a quality rotational guy.'"

Ole Miss and Kiffin eventually bought in and not even then-LSU head coach Ed Orgeron, who started blowing up Tavius' phone, could convince him to decommit.

"He said, 'I've made a commitment to Ole Miss and I think I should honor it,'" Tillman said. "That tells you who he is. In this day and age, it's refreshing."

Tavius could have taken a redshirt year but opted against it. He ended up starting five games. He considered declaring for the NFL Draft after a strong second season but decided to return. After Tavius had a breakout third season with seven sacks, the Ravens drafted him in the fourth round ahead of at least one AFC North rival who was also interested.

"Going from Guelph to Ole Miss, I can't even comprehend how much of a change that would be and step up in competition," Ravens defensive end and fellow Canadian Brent Urban said. "His growth over the years has been so fast. Five years ago, he was at Guelph. It's remarkable."

Tillman was chatting with Ravens Executive Vice President Ozzie Newsome this spring when Robinson came up. Newsome chuckled and said they were excited when they drafted Robinson, but not even they expected what he's become.

"I'm just thrilled for him because he's such a good guy," Tillman said. "It's easy to characterize him in all those platitudes of team guy, character guy, hard worker – all of them. Each of them is applicable, but the sum of all those parts ends up being pretty darn good."

Nice Guy … Until He Cuts Off His Circulation

When Ravens running back Keaton Mitchell was in the emotional and mental pit of his long knee rehab in the 2024 offseason, he said he felt alone, forgotten about. That is, except for by Robinson.

Robinson and inside linebacker Trenton Simpson, who have been very good friends since being Ravens rookie roommates, called and texted Mitchell frequently to check in on him. They introduced Mitchell to sushi, went to Baltimore Orioles games together, and vacationed in Cancun and Jamaica together.

Ask anybody in the Ravens locker room who is the nicest guy on the team and almost all of them will point to Robinson or Simpson.

"They're my dawgs. They were there for me," Mitchell said. "They're some great guys, especially Tavius. Off the field, he's a nice dude. On the field, once he puts those bands on and cuts his circulation off, he's a whole different dude."

You read that right. Robinson wears extremely tight bands around each forearm, then another above each wrist underneath the tight tape around his hands to cut off his own circulation. He did it one day at Ole Miss and hasn't stopped since. Add in the thick black paint he smears below his eyes on gamedays, and he has the look of a man ready to go to war. It suits his game.

"It makes my hands the smallest amount of numb," Robinson said. "It gets them nice and ready to put them on people."

Perhaps no one has felt Robinson's hands jar them back more than Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar, who has the unenviable job of blocking Robinson in practice. When Kolar was in the early stages of evolving into a more blocking-heavy role last summer, Robinson wrecked him in a one-on-one drill. A year later, Kolar holds his own better, but it's still a pain.

"He's a great player," Kolar said. "He's tall, has really long arms. And he just plays hard – all the time."

Smith, who has been coaching Robinson the past three seasons, could talk all day about Robinson's virtues. Last offseason, he called him a "glass eater" who "shows no mercy" and never turns down a practice rep.

"Speaking for our organization – I shouldn't be, but I think they'll agree – Tavius Robinson is everything you look for in a Baltimore Raven," Smith said. "He got that dawg in him. … He has an opportunity to have a breakout season."

As a rookie, Robinson played 29% of the Ravens' defensive snaps and notched one sack. Last season, he played 43% of the snaps and had 3.5 sacks. Sacks are great, and Robinson keeps working at his craft to become a better pass rusher, but they aren't his calling card. His forte is beating people up – tight ends, tackles, pulling guards, whomever.

Robinson's ability to flip the switch from nice guy to mauler is tough to comprehend, but not to Urban, who grew up not far from Toronto.

"That's part of the Canadian ID," Urban said. "You look at hockey. You fight in the game and then you shake the guy's hand after. There's a toughness aspect to being Canadian. Canadians are nice, but they have an edge to them."

Robinson's physicality was made in Canada. When he was playing youth football and before more vicious hits were driven out of the game, Robinson said he was always trying to light kids up.

"I love dominating and taking someone else's will," Robinson said. "That's what got me into the game. From an early age, I felt like that was always my strong point. You've got to keep your head on a swivel. If you don't, I'm coming to get you."

Keep your head on a swivel. Sounds like the lesson villainous Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward learned when he got a taste of his own medicine from former Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson.

The Perfect Representative

Robinson loves watching film, and one of the guys he most enjoys studying is Johnson. Robinson even went as far as to dig up old podcasts the Ravens legend had been on, just to get inside his thought process.

After being sent an article about how Robinson emulates his game, Johnson made a two-day trip to Baltimore to watch training camp and meet the young pupil. After the first practice, they stayed on the field and got hands-on talking about stances. Johnson gave Robinson a tip that he used on the first play the next day. To no surprise, it worked.

After the second day of practice, they sat down to watch film together. It was mostly plays Tavius made from the past couple of years, with some Johnson highlights sprinkled in to compare and contrast. It lasted more than an hour, with Johnson pointing out the minute details on how to angle his rush, where to punch the blocker, and where his eyes should be.

Johnson marveled at the kinds of plays Robinson is already making, complimented his instincts, and loved when he blasted somebody wearing the other color. The same few phrases kept coming up.

"… kicking this dude's ass."

" … running through his face."

" … walking him back."

Johnson and Robinson speak the same language. Even though Robinson is Canadian and Johnson is a Florida guy who played his college days at powerhouse Alabama, they're cut from the same cloth.

Some of the things Johnson did, like the famous highlight of him de-cleating Ward, would draw yellow flags and stiff fines these days. But Johnson sees shades of that same demeanor in Robinson. Heck, they even wear the same jersey number.

"The hardest thing you can teach people is to want to be physical and to want to like football. He does those two things," Johnson said. "He could absolutely play in any era."

Johnson saw the game changing over his 12 years in the NFL, and he's seen it continue to evolve since he retired following the 2014 season. For the most part, he likes the changes, but feels it has led to players who are wired a little bit differently.

For example, Johnson wasn't somebody who put much focus on recovery and rehab. Part of it was just being a bullheaded tough guy. But when it came to gameday, it didn't matter. If he was hurting, he was still playing.

Johnson played in 129 consecutive regular-season games in Baltimore – a remarkable feat only topped by punter Sam Koch, whose body didn't take nearly the kind of punishment Johnson's did. Robinson has played in every game since he entered the league. In fact, he hasn't missed even a single practice.

"I don't want to be a back-in-my-day type of guy, but the culture around football in youth sports and college football has changed – in a lot of ways for the better," Johnson said. "They're better kids, they're healthier, better nutrition, better sports science, social media and all this stuff. But they don't have as many outlaws. They're not chasing these kids out of the bars. They're not doing crazy stuff. With all that stuff, you get some badass dudes on the field.

"But when you have someone like Tavius that is a good kid, he's fun to be around, he's smart – I mean, you would let him date your daughter – but he enjoys the physical side of the game, that's kind of rare today. That's how I was. I liked to bang. That's what was valued here as a Raven."

Johnson's career lasted 12 years but never quite got the appreciation outside of Baltimore that it deserved. Robinson said he would be happy to have a career like that.

"He's a legend in this building," Robinson said.

Robinson and Johnson could have sat in that dim auditorium talking football all day. But when they finally turned the film off, the youngster got the veteran's blessing.

"You're a helluva player, man. You've got a big future," Johnson said. "You're the perfect person to be representing No. 95."