The awards were presented during the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s 5oth Annual ‘Walter Camp Weekend’ in New Haven.

Bob McKee (left) and Frank Robinson II shake hands before the opening coin toss at the 50th annual Conard vs. Hall football game in 2006. Photo courtesy of Curtis Sports (we-ha.com file photo)

By Ronni Newton

Two legendary West Hartford football coaches received lifetime achievement awards Saturday at the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s “Breakfast of Champions,” an event honoring Connecticut high school football that is part of the foundation’s annual “Walter Camp Weekend.”

Former Conard High School football coach Robert McKee and former Hall High School coach Frank Robinson II (posthumously) were honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

This is the 10th year that the Walter Camp Football Foundation has given out the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the first time that the award was given to two people in the same year.

The careers and lives of McKee and Robinson – the “first families” of football in West Hartford – are so intertwined that the dynasty was the subject of a 2014 documentary entitled “All in the Family” by sports television producer Matt Vinick.

McKee coached at Hall from 1951-1956 and then was Conard’s first-ever football coach, heading the program from 1957-1983 and amassing a record of 168-61-15. He was succeeded by his son-in-law, Rob Cersosimo, who was head coach at Conard until handing over the reins to his son, Matt Cersosimo, in 2014. Conard’s football stadium is named in McKee’s honor.

Robinson passed away at age 91 in February 2015. His record at Hall, where he coached from 1957-1987, was 201-92-9. Robinson Gymnasium is named in his honor. His son, Frank Robinson III (aka “Robbie”), has been the head football coach at Hall since 1999.

Click here for more information about the documentary, and click here to watch a trailer of the documentary.

The Walter Camp Breakfast of Champions honors excellence in high school football, on and off the field. According to the Hartford Courant, Danny Dietz of Simsbury High School, who returned to the gridiron just over a year after having a heart transplant, was the recipient of the UCAN Inspired Award.

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