Editing Jackie Robinson (section)

===UCLA and afterward===
[[File:Jackie robinson ucla track.jpg|thumb|alt=Athlete in UCLA track uniform at the apex of a jump, with legs lunging forward, against a background of an academic building.|upright|Robinson doing the long jump for [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]]]]

After graduating from PJC in spring 1939,<ref>[[#Falkner|Falkner]], p. 49.</ref> Robinson enrolled at UCLA, where he became the school's first athlete to win [[varsity letter]]s in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track.<ref>[[#Eig|Eig]], p. 11.</ref><ref name=memory1940/>

He was one of four black players on the Bruins' [[1939 UCLA Bruins football team|1939 football team]]; the others were [[Woody Strode]], [[Kenny Washington (American football)|Kenny Washington]], and Ray Bartlett. Washington, Strode, and Robinson made up three of the team's four backfield players.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/970425TeammatesRecall.aspx |title=Teammates Recall Jackie Robinson's Legacy |access-date=October 12, 2008 |last=Violett |first=B.J. |year=1997 |work=UCLA Today |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306163340/http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/970425TeammatesRecall.aspx |archive-date=March 6, 2010 }}</ref> At a time when only a few black students played mainstream college football, this made UCLA college football's most {{nowrap|integrated team.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-9389095 |title=Washington, Kenny |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=May 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106201058/https://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-9389095 |archive-date=January 6, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1478-0542.2007.00412.x |first=Lane |last=Demas |journal=History Compass |title=Beyond Jackie Robinson: racial integration in American college football and new directions in sport history |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=675–690 |year=2007}}</ref>}} They went undefeated with four ties at {{nowrap|6–0–4.}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thesportjournal.org/article/the-interrelated-back-stories-of-kenny-washington-reintegrating-the-nfl-in-1946-and-jackie-robinson-integrating-major-league-baseball-in-1947/ |access-date=November 25, 2017 |last=Stefani |first=Raymond |date=March 17, 2015 |work=The Sport Journal |title=The Interrelated Back Stories of Kenny Washington Reintegrating the NFL in 1946 and Jackie Robinson Integrating Major League Baseball in 1947}}</ref> Robinson finished the season with 12.2 yards per attempt on 42 carries, which is the school football record for highest rushing yards per carry in a season as of 2022. Robinson also led the NCAA in punt return average in the 1939 and 1940 seasons.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wittry |first=Andy |title=Jackie Robinson's football career at UCLA hinted at greatness to come, and a 'Toy Story' character |url=https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2022-04-14/jackie-robinsons-football-career-ucla |date=April 14, 2022 |access-date=June 8, 2022 |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |language=en}}</ref>

In [[track and field]], Robinson won the [[1940 NCAA Track and Field Championships#Long jump|1940 NCAA championship]] in the [[long jump]] at {{convert|24|ft|10+1/4|in|m|2|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/track_outdoor_champs_records/2006/MD1.pdf |access-date=March 10, 2013 |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |title=Outdoor Track and Field: Division I Men's |page=8 }}</ref> [[UCLA Bruins baseball|Baseball]] was Robinson's "worst sport" at UCLA; he hit .097 in his only season, although in his first game he went 4-for-4 and twice [[Stolen base|stole]] home.<ref name=UCLAbio>{{cite web |url=http://spotlight.ucla.edu/alumni/jackie-robinson/ |access-date=November 19, 2017 |last=Greenwald |first=Dave |date=February 1, 2005 |publisher=UCLA Athletics |title=Alumnus Jackie Robinson honored by Congress |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210090121/http://spotlight.ucla.edu/alumni/jackie-robinson/ |archive-date=December 10, 2008 }}</ref>

While a senior at UCLA, Robinson met his future wife, [[Rachel Robinson|Rachel Isum]] (b.1922), a UCLA freshman who was familiar with Robinson's athletic career {{nowrap|at PJC.<ref>[[#Robinson|Robinson, Jackie (1972)]], pp. 10–11.</ref>}} He played football as a senior, but the [[1940 UCLA Bruins football team|1940 Bruins]] won only one game.<ref>[[#Linge|Linge]], p. 27.</ref> In the spring, Robinson left college just shy of graduation, despite the reservations of his mother and Isum.<ref>Sources point to various reasons for Robinson's departure from UCLA. Family sources cite financial concerns. ({{cite web |title=Jackie Robinson Biography |url=http://3.128.87.165/biography/ |access-date=August 8, 2024 |archive-date=June 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609040549/http://3.128.87.165/biography/ |url-status=dead }}) In addition, Robinson himself cited his growing disillusionment about the value of a college degree for a black man of his era. ([[#Robinson|Robinson, Jackie (1972)]], p. 11.) Other sources suggest that Robinson was uninterested in academics, and behind on class work at the time he left UCLA. ([[#Falkner|Falkner]], p. 45; [[#Eig|Eig]], p. 13.)</ref> He took a job as an assistant athletic director with the government's [[National Youth Administration]] (NYA) {{nowrap|in [[Atascadero, California]].<ref name="Gale Group">{{cite web|url=http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/robinson_j.htm |title=Black History Biographies Jackie Robinson |access-date=November 24, 2008 |publisher=[[Gale (Cengage)|Gale Cengage Learning]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115020111/http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/robinson_j.htm |archive-date=January 15, 2009 }}</ref><ref>[[#Linge|Linge]], p. xiii.</ref><ref name=Robinsonp12>[[#Robinson|Robinson, Jackie (1972)]], p. 12.</ref>}}

After the government ceased NYA operations, Robinson traveled to [[Honolulu]] in the fall of 1941 to play football for the semi-professional, racially integrated Honolulu {{nowrap|Bears.<ref name="Gale Group"/><ref name=Robinsonp12/>}} After a short season, Robinson returned to California in December 1941 to pursue a career as running back for the [[Los Angeles Bulldogs]] of the [[Pacific Coast Football League]].<ref name=Gill>{{cite journal|url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/09-03-295.pdf |first=Bob |last=Gill |journal=The Coffin Corner |title=Jackie Robinson: Pro Football Prelude |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=1–2 |year=1987 |access-date=May 27, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127050105/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/09-03-295.pdf |archive-date=November 27, 2010 }}</ref> By that time, however, the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] had taken place, which drew the United States into [[World War II]] and ended Robinson's nascent football career.<ref name = "Gale Group"/>