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From football to opera: Morris Robinson’s unconventional
journey to discovering his divine purpose [VIDEO]
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Article By EEW Magazine Inspiration
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Posted February 20, 2017
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Photo Credit: Boston University/Dana Smith
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“My mother was always in my ear [saying] you know you should be singing. Never walk away from
music, God blessed you with that talent," recalls Morris Robinson.
But the wisdom of his mother wouldn’t be apparent until years later, especially because singing
wasn’t something the now-famous opera singer, known for his incredible and commanding bass
voice, was that interested in.
That didn’t matter to Mom, though.
“She made me join the pastor’s choir. At the African American Church the kids’ choir is always
the pastor’s choir, so I was in the pastor’s choir and I didn’t want to be a singer. I wanted to be a
drummer but I was too young for that,” Morris laughed, while reminiscing during an interview with
CBN.
“James Cleveland had a song ‘Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus,’ and they would play it on the
stereo all the time, and I got busted singing it," he said.
When his mother walked in on his private concert that day, she asked him, “Is that you?”
He said, “The next thing I know, I’m standing in a chair on Sunday morning, because I was so little
you couldn’t see me over the bannister. And I was singing it and I was on WALK radio, so there’s
probably a recording of it somewhere."
The son of a Baptist minister grew up in Atlanta, attended The Citadel on a football scholarship.
He was an all-American offensive lineman and didn't begin studying singing until he was 30.
“I've been able to experience a lot of different things in life. I was a full-time athlete. A lot of kids
dream of that, being able to go to play Division 1 college football and be on the team and hang
out with the fellows,” Morris said.
In a recent NPR interview, he said, grinning, "When you're a big black guy down south in
Georgia, you play ball. It's like a rite of passage."
He hoped to play in the NFL, but wasn't big enough.
"At 6 feet 2 1/2 inches, 290 pounds, I'd be blocking someone 6 feet 6 inches, 300 pounds," he
said. "Would somebody pay me millions of dollars to protect their quarterback? Probably not."
But obviously, things didn’t end with his unrealized sports dreams.
After graduation, Morris landed a job in corporate sales and moved around the country as he
received more lucrative offers and promotions. Along the way, he married Denise Wright, a flight
attendant he met on the way to a sales conference. Their son Miles is 10 years old.
“God gave me a life in the business world. He gave me a family, I'm a dad, you know. I've gotten
to do all these things, but the one thing that He's really blessed me with to kind of bring it all
together, is the ability to express music and express myself musically,” Morris told CBN.
“There were so many things that happened along the way of this journey that Morris Robinson
could not have manufactured,” he said. “God has a plan for all of us and we don't know what it is.
You have to be patient and wait on Him and He will guide you is how I see it.”
He knows personally.
“I had no idea at all, no aspirations, no hopes and dreams at all of being a professional singer.
Like, that never crossed my mind. As far as I was concerned I was a ball player who was trying to
prove himself on the athletic field, who had this freakish ability to sing like some weird sounding
voices that came out my throat," he said.
Morris's journey has been a long one with may twists and turns, but now he realizes, God was in
control all along.
For those waiting on God to lead them on their path to purpose, Morris offered this: “I always say
that God will reveal His plan for you. And you just have to wait it out. It may seem insurmountable
and unbearable, but you stay with what you're doing, and the Lord will present an opportunity for
you.”
Watch his full inspiring story below.
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