Kimari Robinson apologized for swatting a female trainer’s arm away, but another video is making that apology harder to defend. This time, footage circulating on X appears to show the Duke cornerback confronting a security guard earlier in the same game. So much for blaming his aggression entirely on concern for an injured teammate.
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And all of this unfolded during Duke’s embarrassing 24-20 loss to rival North Carolina, which dropped the Blue Devils to 4-2.
“Same Duke player went after a security guard not long before this. Now I’m waiting for the same low iq commenters saying he must’ve been provoked,” AL Bundy posted on X with a clip showing Robinson being rude to a security staffer while leaving the field earlier in the game.
AL Bundy also posted Robinson being rude to the female staffer who came in to check on safety DaShawn Stone after he went down: “I’ve seen people defending the player in this and if you played any football you know to give the trainers space to do their job. Kick this guy off the team,” AL Bundy posted on X.
During the third quarter, Stone went down, and medical staff ran out to check on him, while Robinson stood over him looking concerned. When a female trainer came in to reach Stone and tried to move Robinson aside, he swatted her arm out of the way, visibly leaving her startled. Though a stretcher came out, Stone ended up walking off on his own.
The broadcast caught the incident, and Robinson received backlash for his attitude with the staffers. Few defended Robinson’s reaction, as he was emotional after Stone’s injury and wasn’t pleased with being pushed away. The Blue Devils officials have yet to address the incident, including any disciplinary action to be faced by the cornerback after his behavior with both the security staff and the female medical staffer.
Robinson later addressed the situation personally in his X post, apologising for his actions after the Saturday game.
“I was completely wrong, and she did not deserve that,” Robinson’s X post read. “Immediately after the game, I apologized to her personally and checked to make sure she was okay. The injured player on the ground, DaShawn Stone, is like family to me, and I was scared he might be seriously hurt.”
“But being worried about him does not excuse how I treated her. I should have controlled my emotions, and I didn’t. I’m truly sorry for my actions and for letting herself, myself and our program down. I have to be better than that.”
The game did not work in Duke’s favor, as North Carolina took the lead late and the Tar Heels’ Kenton Dopson III intercepted Walker Eget with 19 seconds left to seal a 24-20 victory. Robinson, a redshirt junior and starting cornerback, recorded three tackles against North Carolina on October 17, including one solo and two assisted tackles. Duke had also suffered a 28-25 loss to Georgia Tech on October 10, marking its second consecutive defeat.
Duke, now at 4-2 overall and 1-2 in ACC play, has a smaller margin for error heading into Friday’s road game against Virginia on October 23. The Blue Devils will be looking to avoid a third consecutive loss after falling to Georgia Tech and North Carolina.