Seymour football head coach Tyson Moore told senior Cory Robinson last Monday that he was one of five finalists for the Colts High School Man of the Year award.

He also said all five finalists will have to do interviews to see who ultimately gets selected, so just two days later, Robinson hopped on a Zoom call expecting to do an interview.

When the senior sat in front of the computer last Wednesday at Seymour High School, Indianapolis Colts star linebacker Shaquille Leonard showed up on the screen.

Leonard played it cool at first. He started by asking Robinson what this award means to him and how he would feel if he were to win it. Robinson was prepared, giving a well-worded answer.

Then things took a turn that Robinson didn’t see coming. There were no more questions from Leonard. Instead, the Colts linebacker officially let Robinson know he was named the second Colts High School Man of the Year, presented by Forté Sports Medicine and Orthopedics.

Robinson was shocked when he heard it, and he was still a little shocked just a couple of days later.

“After one question, they told me I won the award, and it was pretty special,” he said.

Not to mention out of all people to be on the Zoom call with Robinson, it was one of the more prolific players on Indianapolis’ roster.

“He was super cool to talk to and listen to,” Robinson said of Leonard. “He seemed super friendly, and I never thought I’d see the day where a professional football player came on and said, ‘Hey, Cory, what’s up?’ That was pretty neat.”

Every high school football team in Indiana is allowed to nominate one player from their respective team for this award.

Moore chose Robinson, which meant a lot to the senior Owl.

“It means a lot that he respects me in that aspect to be the representation for our team this year for that award,” he said.

Robinson definitely had the qualifications, too.

As a three-year starter on Seymour’s offensive line, Robinson didn’t allow any sacks or have any holding penalties this past fall.

He was a team captain for the Owls as he helped lead them to a 6-4 record and win a share of the Hoosier Hills Conference for the first time since 2001. It was a great way for Robinson to cap off his senior season at Seymour, especially with some of the difficulties in his first few seasons.

“You go through the trials and tribulations and hear how terrible you are through your freshman and junior years, and you just keep fighting through it,” he said. “We’ve had the work ethic the past two years, but this year, I think we had the talent to help back us up a little bit. It was cool to finally get a winning record and win a conference championship. The best part about it was how close we are as a group, and I think that’s why we had success.”

As much as being successful on the field helped Robinson’s case for this award, what really did it for him were his contributions off of the field.

The Owl has a long list of things he does around the community in Seymour. He serves on the Seymour Mayor’s Council and is an ambassador for the high school and its underclassmen. He also is a member of the Seymour city intern group and is involved in Mainstreet America, D.A.R.E., Riley Dance Marathon and the Angel Tree gift-giving committee.

Robinson also is Seymour’s senior class president.

“In my 10 years of coaching, I have never been around a young man who has improved as much as Cory has while also being the most outstanding leader I have ever had on the field,” Moore said. “He came in as a kid who needed a lot of fundamental development and for four years has gotten better and better with each season.”

There were around 250 applicants for this honor. Robinson actually was one of the five finalists. He just didn’t have to do an actual interview to solidify his case.

The other finalists for the award were Delta’s Caleb Elliot­, Mississinewa’s Hayden Nelson, NorthWood’s J.J. Payne and North Decatur’s Reid Messer.

“Football instills important life skills beyond the sport itself, so we’re proud to recognize Cory Robinson and all our nominees who exemplify these values as student-athletes and school and community leaders,” said Mike Prior, Colts Youth Football commissioner.

Colts Owner Jim Irsay even sent out a tweet about Robinson last week to congratulate him on the honor.

Irsay tweeted, “Cory Robinson of Seymour is our second-ever Colts High School Man of the Year! The award recognizes an outstanding Indiana high school football player who exemplifies character, leadership and teamwork on/off the field. Congrats to this fine young man, an inspiration to all.”

Robinson doesn’t want to say he has been star-struck by all of this, but it has been pretty cool having people like Irsay and Leonard bring his name up.

“That was cool,” Robinson said. “One of my friends had showed me (Irsay’s tweet), and I was just totally shocked that he had posted that. I thought that was neat.”

Robinson also is awarded two tickets to the Colts game Jan. 8 against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium. Robinson was told they are on-field tickets, so he’s excited to experience that game.

Robinson has been to two Colts games in the past, but he admitted he’s not technically a Colts fan. He has no ill will toward the Colts, but all of his life, he has been a New York Giants fan.

“They told me going into the interview that I shouldn’t say I’m not a Colts fan,” he joked. “That was funny.”

Robinson has thought about potentially going to college to play football, having talks with schools like UIndy, Hanover and Franklin.

He’s still considering some of those, but he is leaning toward not playing and instead going to Purdue University, which is a dream school for him as he grew up a Boilermaker fan. If he ends up in West Lafayette, Robinson hopes to be a student manager for the Boilermakers football team.

Robinson also will receive a commemorative plaque declaring him as the Colts High School Man of the Year. In addition to the plaque and tickets, he gets $2,500 to donate to any nonprofit/charity of his choosing.

Robinson has some in mind, but he wants to keep it a surprise for the charity. Stay tuned for Robinson’s decision, which will likely come in early January.