Jackie Robinson's Widow Discusses Husband -- on and off the Field

April 12, 2007 — -- Sixty years ago this month, legendary second baseman Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball by becoming the first black player in Major League Baseball. "Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts sat down with the Hall-of-Famer's widow, Rachel Robinson, to talk about his achievements, the couple's relationship and how he continues to help people even after his death.

To find out more about the Jackie Robinson Foundation, visit www.jackierobinson.org.

Roberts: Tell us about the first time you met him.

Robinson: What surprised me and what delighted me was the fact that he was not arrogant, though he was a big man on campus. He was not arrogant. He was friendly. He had this wonderful smile. He was gorgeous, so good to look at. .... So I was attracted to him immediately.

Roberts: You're attracted to him just like that. You knew ....

Robinson: I knew something.

Roberts: The way you described him -- my heart is going pitter-patter. I love how you described that. Shortly after you were married, Branch Rickey decides that Jackie Robinson was going to be the one to integrate baseball. You were barely married just over a year. How difficult was that on the marriage to go through something like this?

Robinson: It had its difficulties, and it had its positive points. When Jack got out of the Army and left the Negro Leagues, he needed a job, and we didn't know what he was going to be able to do. ... So when he called me from New York to say that Branch Rickey had hired him for a job, that was primary at that point, because that meant we could get married and make plans because he had a job.

We didn't understand the significance of it, certainly, in the early, at that early time, and it wasn't a job for a period of time. ... We were excited with the opportunity.

Roberts: We know so much about your husband on the field. What was he like off the field?

Robinson: On the field, of course, he was a competitor -- aggressive, fighting, angry. ... At home and off the field he was a totally different person. He had an enormous capacity to love. So we all had the gentleness of him. We all had the caring part of him. ... He felt that home was a haven. He would rush home after games or after being on the road to just be there.