Jackie Robinson Statue Unveiled at Rose Bowl

PASADENA, CA — A statue of Jackie Robinson in a football uniform was installed Wednesday outside the main gate of the Rose Bowl, honoring the man who broke baseball's color barrier but played football at the stadium in the 1930s for Pasadena City College.

The statue was unveiled at a ceremony hosted by retired Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully, and attended by Pasadena city officials and Robinson's family, including his widow, Rachel.

"On behalf of the Robinson family and this majestic stadium, surrounded by the San Gabriel Mountains, extended family and friends, we're thrilled to share this incredible moment with you," Robinson's daughter, Sharon, told the crowd outside the Rose Bowl.

Sharon heaped praise on her mother for continuing work at age 95 on behalf of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which she said has provided $75 million in scholarships and leadership support over the past 43 years, helping lead more than 1,500 students to graduation.

"She's my inspiration and my best friend," she said, smiling at her mother in the crowd.

"Thank you all for bringing us all together at a time when we need hope and we need inspiration," Sharon Robinson said. "Now, Jackie Robinson and the Pasadena Rose Bowl are now joined in history and in life."

Scully, who served as emcee at the ceremony despite it being his 90th birthday, told the crowd that Robinson lettered in four sports while at UCLA -- baseball, football, basketball and track. He noted that Robinson ironically excelled at all of those sports, except baseball.

"And now, I have a shocking note to pass on to you," he said. "In baseball, Jackie Robinson played one year at UCLA. This great player who is in the Hall of Fame, who is looked upon as one of the great baseball players of all time, his one year playing at UCLA he batted .097. No wonder he went on to other sports."

Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, was raised in Pasadena and played football at the Rose Bowl for Pasadena City College in 1937 and 1938.

Robinson continued his football career at UCLA, which has played its home games at the Rose Bowl since 1982.

The statue is the first outside the Rose Bowl.

Funds for the statue were donated by the Tull Family Foundation to Legacy Connections, the private nonprofit fundraising arm of the Rose Bowl Stadium. Thomas Tull was a producer of the 2013 film biography of Robinson, "42."

According to Legacy Connections, Robinson was unanimously voted the team MVP at what was then known as Pasadena Junior College in 1938. On Nov. 23 of that year, Robinson helped lead the team to a 39-6 victory over Caltech at the Rose Bowl, running back a kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown.

City News Service; (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)