Roberson Receives Dallas College Athletics' Lifetime Legacy Award

GARLAND, Texas – Former Dallas College North Lake pitcher Cody Roberson received Dallas College Athletics' highest honor after being named a Lifetime Legacy Award recipient.

"What an incredible honor to be the first recipient of the Legacy Award for North Lake and to represent my former campus of North Lake College," Roberson said. "I'm incredibly honored. I can't thank Dallas College's athletic department and the North Lake athletic department committee that nominated me and selected me. It's an incredible honor to be a part of it, and I look forward to be a great representative for the colleges moving forward."

Dallas College Athletics' Lifetime Legacy Award honors former student-athletes and coaches who distinguished themselves through exceptional athletic and academic performances at their respective campuses, and who have continued to excel in their professional and personal lives long after their playing days. These individuals represent the highest standards of leadership, excellence and impact – both within Dallas College and in the communities they serve.

An All-Metro Athletic Conference baseball player at North Lake in 1990 and 1991, Roberson spent two years with the Blazers after initially beginning his college career at the University of Texas at Arlington. He was an All-NJCAA Region V selection and named the Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore. He ranks third on the school's all-time wins list (13), second in earned run average (1.71), seventh in strikeouts (105) and first in saves (9) in an era when only seven-inning games were played. His eight wins on the mound in 1991 rank fourth in school single season history, while posting the top ERA (1.19) in 1990. His 1.95 ERA in 1991 is fifth. He had 69 strikeouts in 1991, which ranks eighth, and his six saves that same year are tied for first.

"All the accomplishments, all the achievements, all the different directions that I've gone in my life and all the good times and the bad times and the blessings, I can literally trace every single successful accomplishment to everything I learned on the ball field at North Lake and everything I learned academically at North Lake," Roberson said. "Now, 36 years later, looking back, revisiting all of those accomplishments and spending time to celebrate that … wow."

Roberson earned an Associate of Arts and Sciences from North Lake. He earned a Bachelor of Arts with honors in criminal justice and corrections from UT Arlington and a Master of Science with honors in management and leadership from Webster University.

He signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Braves, spending one year with the organization, where he threw a combined shutout with Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Jason Schmidt in relief. He was released to the Cleveland Indians, but did not sign with the club. He was later offered free agent contracts by the Florida Marlins, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees, but elected to join the United States Army. In 1998, Roberson returned to baseball to play for the semi-professional Fayetteville (N.C.) Diamonds, which was owned by the Fayetteville Crocs and Montreal Expos. Offered a contract, he turned it down to continue his service in the Army as a Commissioned Officer.

In 2006, he founded the largest military professional fishing organization in the bass fishing industry, according to Bass Anglers Magazine in 2015. He developed and sold World Fishing Network's hit show, which was nominated for The Best Fishing Show on the Sportsman Channel's Best Choice Awards. He has made regular appearances on TV shows, including "Big Bass Battle," "American Fly Fisherman," "Oakley Big Bass," "Ultimate Catch," "The Texas Fisherman," "Veteran Outdoors," "Skeeter Bass Champs," and ESPN. Roberson appeared on the cover of Bass Angler Magazine, and has been published in military magazines, numerous outdoor fishing websites, magazines and newspapers.

In 2012, Roberson was the largest franchise owner of Lenny's Sub Shop in San Antonio, Texas, and signed Lenny's first professional outdoorsman contract. He is a regular co-host on ESPN and Bud Light studios radio shows, "BassCast," "Wired2Fish," "The Great Outdoors," "The Sunday Sportsman," "Shake, Rattle & Troll," "The Duck Dudes," and AM-760's "Lonestar Outdoor Show." He is considered a leading expert in marketing within the fishing and outdoors industry, with a focus on assisting non-profit organizations.

In 2019, he secured the first heritage partnership with industry leader Texas Trophy Hunters. In 2021, he secured the first military agreement between Ducks Unlimited for its historical first International Expo, and launched the first National On-line Hog Hunting Tournament Trail with True Ballistics. He ended 2021 by winning the Sportsman Channel's national shooting championship.

In 2022, he accepted a board position with Patriot Sporting Challenge as the executive director, as well as with True Conservation and Shepard Shoots Ministry. He also took on advisory and consulting positions with Camp Agape, Heroes Ranch and Purple Heart Homes.

In 2025, Roberson finished producing the hit show, "Heroes Ranch," which began airing in June. In 2026, he finished producing and hosting the new show, "Stars & Stripes Adventures" for Purple Heart Homes, currently airing on the Sportsman Channel. He and his wife, Mistie Roberson, own CM Vacation Rental in Texas, Florida and New Mexico.

Roberson held many roles and received many awards while serving in the military, including Order of Military Medical Merit, Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars, three Meritorious Service Medals, two Army Commendation Medals, six Army Achievement Medals, Superior Unit Award, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal (Silver Service Star), Iraqi Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Ribbon, Gold German Schutzenschnur Marksmanship Award, George C. Marshall Award and Reserve Officers Award. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.

"All the accomplishments that I had in the military, the bronze stars, the legions of merit, the history that I made on the desert fields of Iraq," Roberson began, "I can literally trace every stitch of that back to all the hard lessons and hard work that I spent on the ball field at North Lake. There is life behind baseball. In my particular case, it was with the United States military."

He has worked with many fishing and outdoor industry leaders, including Skeeter Boats, Power-Pole, All Seasons Feeders, Kryptek Outdoors Group, Trophy Buck, Camo Dust, Folds of Honor, The World Fishing Network, ABC's Shark Tank, The Shooting Diva, True Ballistics, True Conservation, Patriot Sporting Challenge, Fishing for Freedom Ducks Unlimited and the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, among others.

Roberson also has done extensive volunteer work with A Soldiers Child Foundation, Returning Heroes Home, Warrior & Family Support Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Texas Oilman's Bass Invitational, Oilman Helping Hands, Fishing with Legends, Heroes on the Water, Warrior Canine Connection, Patriot Sporting Challenge Board of Directors, among others.

"As a Legacy Award winner, I'm definitely going to remember this," he said, holding up his Dallas College lifetime achievement award. "All the people that made this possible in my life: my wife, my pastor, my teammates, my friends … everybody made this possible. I didn't achieve this by myself. I had a whole support group behind me."