(63) in action against the San Diego Chargers at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Report: Ex-Oakland Raiders All-Pro OL Barret Robbins dead at 52

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Alex Byington | Last updated Mar 27, 2026 2:08 PM ET

Former Oakland Raiders center Barret Robbins reportedly passed away peacefully in his sleep Thursday evening, ex-teammate and Raiders legend Tim Brown announced early Friday morning. Robbins, who played for the Raiders between 1995-2003, was 52.

Brown posted the update after receiving word from his former teammate’s wife, Marisa Robbins, of her husband’s passing. The Raiders’ Hall of Fame receiver, who won the 1987 Heisman Trophy, also asked fans to pray for the Robbins family, especially his two daughters.

“It’s with great regret I tell you I just received a call from Marissa (sic) Robbins informing me that Raiders All-Pro center Barrett (sic) Robbins passed away overnight. Thankfully, he passed peacefully in his sleep,” Brown wrote Friday on X/Twitter. “Please pray for their girls, his family and tons of teammates who will be affected by this! It’s unfortunate that his life was never the same after he was not allowed to play in the Super Bowl! Rest Peacefully BR, you deserve it!”

The Las Vegas Raiders, which moved from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020, released a statement honoring Robbins’ impact on the organization later Friday afternoon. Check it out below:

pic.twitter.com/PnHPnZ1EJM
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) March 27, 2026

Barret Robbins diagnosed bipolar after infamous Super Bowl XXXVII disappearance

Robbins’ NFL career was plagued by mental health issues. First-year Raiders head coach Bill Callahan was even forced to suspend his All-Pro center for Super Bowl XXXVII vs. Tampa Bay after Robbins went missing the day before the game after failing to take his depression medication. It wasn’t the first time he had disappeared for an extended time, including going missing the week before the 2000 AFC championship game before showing up 24 hours before kickoff, according to Sports Illustrated.

Robbins’ wife later revealed in a 2006 San Francisco Chronicle feature that her husband spent the day before the Super Bowl allegedly partying in Tijuana, Mexico, under the impression the Raiders had already won the game. The Buccaneers, in the first season under former Raiders coach Jon Gruden, ultimately won Super Bowl XXXVII, 48-21. That 2003 incident resulted in a 30-day rehab stint in the Betty Ford Center, where Robbins was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Robbins, a second round pick in the 1995 NFL Draft out of TCU, was also hospitalized after being found wandering the team hotel prior to a 1996 game in Denver. Robbins was released in 2004 after testing positive for using “the clear,” a steroid associated with the infamous BALCO lab that also implicated fellow Raiders players Bill Romanowski, Dana Stubblefield and Tyrone Wheatley, as well as MLB superstars Barry Bonds and Jeremy Giambi, among others.

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

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