Jesse 1974 / CC
The patriarch of “Duck Dynasty” has died.
Phil Robertson passed away Sunday at the age of 79 following a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Greg Hilburn is a reporter with USA Today who has gotten to know the Robertson family very well; he says he will never forget the time when he was a kid when he asked for Robertson’s autograph when he was a quarterback for Louisiana Tech.
“I just remember him being so kind to me when I approached him with my dad,” says Hilburn. “I think people saw him as a nice person, but you don’t forget things like that as a child.”
Just before his senior season at Tech, Robertson quit football, forcing the Bulldogs to turn to their backup quarterback – a kid from Shreveport by the name of Terry Bradshaw.
“They got together at a Tech game to celebrate a reunion of sorts,” Hilburn says. “So it was interesting to see that connection.”
Hilburn says Robertson never felt that he was being pushed out of football by the emergence of the future four-time Super Bowl champion and NFL Hall of Famer.
“I don’t think there was any animosity, because I don’t think Phil was that interested in football,” says Hilburn. “Even then in college, his passion was hunting and outdoors, and I don’t think he had the same level of interest in football, although he had a great arm that Bradshaw did.”
Robertson founded the Duck Commander hunting company in 1972, 40 years before starring in “Duck Dynasty” on A&E.
A public memorial service is being planned; the funeral and burial will be limited to family and close friends.
Comments