'The sky is the limit': Robinson shares hopes

Fri, Aug 28, 2026

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson joins Dan Patrick to discuss his 2026 hopes for the team, what his NFL running idols were growing up, and his new career as an actor.

Video Transcript

He's, Bijan Robinson, the Falcons running back, two-time Pro Bowler, and, was the eighth overall pick in the 2023 NFL d- draft there.

1,400 yards last year, seven touchdowns rushing, four touchdowns receiving.

Good to see you back on the program.

How you feeling?

I'm feeling great, man.

It's g- it's good to see you back too.

Down here in Miami, just trying to finish up this last preseason game, but thought it's good to be back on the, on the show with you.

Okay, we wanna play guess the poster that Bijan had on his wall growing up of a running back, okay?

Now don't, don't- Okay.

Okay?

Did you have a poster on your wall of a NFL running back?

I didn't have a poster, but I had a, I had, like, a action figure of, of, of him.

Okay, okay.

So Todd- Yep I'll start with you.

Adrian Peterson.

All right.

Dylan.

Eric Dickerson.

Ooh.

Marvin.

LaDainian Tomlinson.

Oh.

Paul.

Bijan's from Tucson.

I'm also going LaDainian Tomlinson.

I'm gonna say Barry Sanders.

Yeah, so I had, I had both.

So I had Barry Sanders and LT.

So you guys are, you guys are both right.

Okay.

You guys are both right.

Now you, so you met both of them.

I have met both of them, yeah.

Yeah.

They're, they're pretty cool, man.

Like, just So my first time, so my first time actually talking to LaDainian was on a, on a text message, and somebody gave me his number, and it was in college, and I was like, "This can't be real.

Like, somebody's actually just You wanna talk to him?"

And I was like, "What?"

it was a, it was a pretty cool moment.

And then meeting Barry Sanders was w- I played the Lions the first year, so it was cool, like, kind of meeting them both how I did, and it was I mean, they're both, they're both o- the idols right there.

Can you explain Barry Sanders?

If, if somebody didn't see him run, how would you describe that?

I mean, I, I think if, if you'd never seen Barry Sanders or heard of his name, like, you would think he's just a normal, normal dude.

Like, he- he's just a very down-to-earth guy, very respectful.

And I mean, it We, we were just talking about life for, for a minute, just how everything's going.

But I could tell if you didn't know Barry Sanders as a legend that he is and all that he's accomplished, like, you would think he just another man just walking on the street, taking care of his family which, which is pretty cool.

That, that's kinda how I live my life too, so it's pretty cool.

I remember when I saw him in c- I met him in college, when he was in college.

And- Okay so you're just seeing somebody we had not seen before.

And, and I've seen all the running backs, going back to Jim Brown, and Barry, to me, like, he made people look silly.

He- Yeah he, he do you ever, have you ever felt sorry for a defender?

Never.

Okay.

Never.

I, like, have you made somebody embar- you know, like, when they have an arm tackle and whiff on you or you jump over somebody, but you never felt bad.

That's, that's, that's the j- that's the joy that it brings.

Like, after it happens, you know, you're, you're just smiling.

Everybody's energy's up.

But it's just that moment and you're, you, you know you, you won in that moment once, one, you've got past him, but it's just the way you did it.

And even the way that Barry Sanders did it, like, it just brings so much joy and confidence in that next play.

Like, it's crazy.

Anybody ask if they could tackle you, like somebody on the street?

Does somebody- you know, fans?

Does anybody wanna try to tackle you?

Nobody.

I mean, there's been, like, a couple, a couple kids that was like, "You know, if it was me and you one on one in an open field, like, what are my chances?"

And- Wait, this is just a fan?

Yeah, and I'm just like- You know what I mean?

And there's a lot of things that you, that you might be able to do in life.

And I don't think that's, that's what you wanna do.

Last time I was, on, or w- you were on with us, you talked about still pursuing acting, Matthew McConaughey with the Texas connection.

So is there any update on that?

Or do I need to maybe kick Matthew McConaughey to the curb and hook you up with Adam Sandler?

No, no, no.

So I've been, I've been doing, the commercials, which, which have been fun.

I've did about four, for this, for this, like, year at, that's on TV, so that, those have been, like, really cool.

And, you know, I think you gotta start somewhere.

And just for me, starting at that level, has been, has been a blessing.

But nah, man, Matthew McConaughey, we still, we still talk all the time, and I'm actually gonna see him next week, at, at the Texas game.

So it's, it's, it's, it's been, it's been fun, like, to, to, like, use my chops a little bit- Oh in the, in the, in space.

Okay.

So it's cool.

Yeah, acting chops.

Adam, Adam Sandler would be cool too though.

That'd be awesome.

Okay.

All right.

Well, I, I, you know, introduced Derrick Henry to Adam Sandler 'cause- Okay yeah.

So Derrick Henry- That's a good one gets first shot at any acting roles, you know, for running backs.

But I, I can put- Well- I, I can put in, your name.

I can, I can, you know, say to Sandman, "Don't-" I would, I would appreciate it.

Okay.

Help me understand what was going on.

Jahmyr Gibbs and you- Yeah it felt like who's going first to sign their new contract.

Yeah.

Okay.

You went first.

But what, what strategy did you and your agent have of It felt like whoever was going second was gonna make a little bit more money than who went first.

Yeah.

And I mean, we, we, we knew that.

It was more just, like, you know, for, for her, Nicole, like, she just wanted to make sure everything was, was great on the contract side that people, like, really don't see.

Uh- So we were, and, and me, like I was like getting, getting antsy re- getting ready to go.

I, I was like I, I wanna get on the field.

And they were almost done, so that all helped as well.

But yeah, I, I knew like when, when it got done, you know, and then, and then Jahmyr, if whoever would go second, like that would, that would be the case.

But I mean, it didn't affect me at all.

I, I, I'm actually very happy, for him, because we are close.

Like that, that is one of my really good friends, really outside of the game too, as much as we compete against each other.

But you know, it's, it's, it's cool that he has that title of the highest paid, 'cause I know that I got, I got a lot of work to do now, to, to get there.

He doesn't make that much more than you.

Okay?

I know.

You're, you're gonna be fine.

I know.

It's, it, it's, it's just, it's just a cool feeling to know like that position is, is, you know, getting, getting some momentum now.

It's cool.

How good can the Falcons be this year, and who is gonna be your starting quarterback?

You know, I, I, I think that the sky's the limit for us.

We have a lot of great talent on the team.

You know, I'm at this point now where I'm, I'm not trying to put anything in the world that like, "Oh, we're going to the playoffs, Super Bowl."

Like we have to, we have to compete for it.

We have to, you know, do it one day at a time.

Obviously, 'cause every single year I say it, we're one game away or, or, or we're so close, or we, we needed this win or that win.

But now I think that with, with the unit that we have now and the, the group that we have as a team, like we just wanna just go one, one day, one play, one game at a time.

'Cause we know if we just have that m- mentality, we'll be fine.

But for your s- for your question on the starting quarterback, if Kevin Stefanski comes on this show after me, you should ask him that question, 'cause I have no idea.

I have no idea.

Where is he right now?

He's probably in the mail room or, or somewhere- Okay in, um- Okay Yep.

You did a good job trying to juke me, fake me out there.

You- Okay.

So I'll let you off the hook there.

You can- You can guarantee that your quarterback, starting quarterback will be left-handed, correct?

Correct, yes.

Okay.

Now just wanna make sure.

Left too, so we'll see.

Yeah, yeah.

That would You're left-handed too, ar- aren't you?

Yes, I am.

Okay.

I am.

Wait, do you have a, a touchdown pass?

I don't.

Oh.

I don't.

Is it, so it's in the playbook?

I mean, not yet, but I s- I got, I think I still gotta show 'em a little bit more.

They, they see what I can do, but you know, it's, it's the confidence level.

They're not gonna th- they're not gonna know that you're left-handed.

Like this- Well, they do now.

They do now.

Tomlinson threw seven touchdown passes in his career.

He threw seven?

Yeah.

Have they all been, have they all been from the 10 yard in, or have they been past the 10 yard in?

Oh, do you wanna throw a bomb?

I mean, I, I, I aspire to have that dream.

So time to do it.

Paulie, Paulie, how many, touchdown passes does LT have?

LaDainian Tomlinson in his career as a passer was eight for 12 with seven touchdowns, and three of them were over 20 yards.

Wow.

That Yeah, I, I, me and Tommy have some things to talk about.

Come on.

Stefanski, offensive-minded guy.

Yeah.

No, he, no, no, they're very creative.

Like Ke- Kevin and Tommy, very creative, at what they do, and I, I really appreciate that.

So you never know what, what you can see week to week.

Okay.

With- All right.

All right with- I think Gale Sayers was, was he left-handed too?

Gale Sayers?

Yeah.

The classic.

That is- Gale Sayers I wa- I wanna ask you, do you think Gale Sayers can be, can be who he is in today's game?

Yes.

Okay.

Because of the way he ran.

Yeah.

Like, like Jim Brown probably couldn't be, like he'd be maybe a, a smaller Derrick Henry.

Yep.

But Gale Sayers was Barry Sanders before Barry Sanders.

Got it.

His moves were, nobody'd ever seen something like that.

I- Absolutely and I, I know we get caught up in generations, like, "That guy couldn't play today."

Nope.

Yeah.

Gale S- Gale Sayers would be able to play today.

Jim Brown was still an unbelievable athlete, but he, he wouldn't be running over people the way he did back in the '60s.

Most definitely.

Yeah.

Most definitely.

Yeah.

Any other running back you wanna ask me about?

See, Walter Payton, like- Yeah would he be Walter Payton in today's game?

Like would he be his exact same self right now?

He would be maybe a Christian McCaffrey.

Um- Okay.

'Cause I, Walter Payton didn't have great speed, but h- he had so much determination.

Like you just weren't gonna bring him down.

Most definitely.

And I, yes, Paul?

Walter Payton, Bijan, eight touchdown passes.

So there, there, there's a trend.

There's a trend- Dude, you gotta get caught up here.

I'm, I'm on.

I'm on- And, and you call yourself a great running back?

Come on.

Yeah, that's, that, that's something I gotta talk about.

Does, does Christian McCaffrey have any touchdown passes?

He probably does, honestly.

Who's the best running back in the NFL?

I'm not sure.

Probably say, uh- Are you?

I'll prob- I'll probably say like Jahmyr, Christian.

Christian- One of those Christian McCaffrey has two touchdown passes.

Yeah, see, I'm at zero.

Dang.

Now I, I play wildcat, so I don't know if that counts.

No, no, you didn't throw a- That's a wildcat No.

I want a touchdown pass out of you this year.

At least one.

Okay.

Uh- We'll talk Jahmyr Gibbs hasn't thrown a touchdown pass All right, so we're, we're, I guess we're in the same boat.

Yeah.

but- Are, are, are you playing tonight?

I think they'll, they'll let me know, coming up here in our, in our meeting, so we'll, we'll see.

But I'm, I'm, regardless, ready or, ready or not.

Oh.

Would you prefer not to get all taped up and, you know, go through the motions and play, like, one series?

Absolutely.

I mean, I, I, I know, like, me going out there would be great, just get my, like, get my feet rolling and get my feet wet a little bit.

But at the same time, like, I understand, you know, being healthy and getting ready for week one.

So that's always kind of been my thing the past couple years is, is get ready for week one.

So that's probably gonna be my It might be the case here tonight too, so.

Do you even take a shower after the game?

Like, if you don't play, do you even Right?

No, I, I So if, if I got the uniform on, 'cause I like, I like that you still have to have, wear our uniform, then yeah, I'll take a shower.

Okay.

I'll take a shower.

All right.

yeah.

Just wanna make sure I understand everything goes along with the preseason.

Sure.

Go talk to Stefanski and say, "Hey, Coach, is a halfback pass in the playbook?

And if not, I wanna be like Gale Sayers, LaDainian Tomlinson- Okay Christian- Christian.

Yeah, Christian McCaffrey.

And it And just tell Coach that I suggested that you should throw a pass, okay?

At least from the, from the 20 yard out.

Yeah.

Don't, don't Let's not get greedy.

Let's go 10 yards, and then if you wanna go 20, then I'm fine with that, okay?

Okay, cool.

Cool.

But no, yeah, that's good.

Good luck this season.

Yeah.

And, we, we hope to catch up with you, during the season.

But thank you again, Bijan, and, congrats on the contract.

Yeah, thank you, Dan.

It's, it's great talking to you, man.

There he is, a guy who's never thrown a touchdown pass in the NFL