8-year-old Wan'Dale Robinson once signed an autograph for a referee

Before he was a record-breaking wide receiver, Wan’Dale Robinson was an internet sensation.

Ahead of next week’s NFL Draft, Wednesday’s edition of Good Morning Football shined a spotlight on young Wan’Dale Robinson. The NFL Network’s most popular show pulled highlights from 2007 to show off the former Wildcat’s moves as a 6-year-old. It prompted a question from Peter Schrager.

“Urban legend — maybe it’s a rumor, maybe it’s true — that a referee once after a game asked you for an autograph after one of your games, you were that talented.”

“That’s true,” Wan’Dale confirmed. “It wasn’t in these highlights. We actually went to Owensboro, Kentucky. It was kind of an all-star thing and we played teams from all over the state. We were in the championship game and won the game. Our referee came up to me and asked for my autograph and at that point, I looked at my Mom and I didn’t really know what to do. He has a picture of it and she does too. It was pretty exciting at 8-years-old.”

Kyle Brandt joked that Robinson actually used crayon to sign his name back in the day. As you’ll see from his younger, viral video days (this clip had 90,000 views), it’s easy to understand why the young playmaker caught the referee’s eye.

Wan’Dale Robinson is NFL-Ready after playing at Kentucky

Once Wan’Dale Robinson finds an NFL home, it should not take him long to adjust. Last season he caught a school record 104 passes for 1,334 yards. He scored seven touchdowns all while playing in an offense Liam Coen will use this year as the offensive coordinator for the defending Super Bowl Champs. The Frankfort native credits Coen for getting him prepared to play on Sundays.

“I was able to get comfortable and kind of feel like I was back in high school a little bit,” Wan’Dale said. “Coach Coen brought a really good offense, allowed me to do a lot of things that I wanted to do and allowed me to succeed and break a lot of records.”

It’s a simple sales pitch to NFL teams. Some may not like his size, which is why he’s expected to not go off the board until the second or third round on day two, but they know exactly what they’re going to get with Wan’Dale.

“Obviously, you saw that I did it in college and I ran the same concepts that I’ll have to run in the NFL. I feel like I’ll have a step ahead of everybody, learning an NFL offense and things like that too, allowing me to succeed and do the things I did in college.”

Mr. Robinson is approximately eight days away from joining an NFL team. Kentucky prepared him for this moment, well, almost everything.

This morning’s GMF appearance was during his first trip to New York City. His initial impressions of the Big Apple? “It’s Big.”Well said, Wan’Dale. Well said.