Sunday, January 31, 2016

THE UNSUNG HEROS OF FOOTBALL: THE OFFENSIVE LINE


     If you’re the normal fan watching football on TV at home or watching your team at the local watering hole, you may watch every part of the game. The quarterback handing the ball off to the running back or making a pass. Defenders making tackles and interceptions etc, but there’s one position that most people overlook and that’s the offensive. It may not be a hall of fame position. Or a sexy position2. But, it’s the most important. My whole life I have played only one position and at times I wanted to be one of the skinny guys making game thrilling plays that would be talked about forever. Instead I was blessed with size, strength and other qualities which allowed me to play the position effectively. Looking back I wouldn’t have it any other way! There is truly something special about playing offensive line. Five guys are asked to carry the weight of the whole offense, team and receive none of the credit that is due. Being an offensive lineman incorporates everything that it means to be a football player. These qualities include being unselfish, tough, strong, gritty, prideful and any other adjective you think of. It’s a unique collection of characters that are willing to do absolutely whatever it takes, and sacrifice their bodies on every play and every game so their team can be successful. Being a good offensive lineman requires more than just discipline or a good blocking technique. It requires pride -- pride in yourself; your group and your team. A team with pride is a hard team to beat because they're willing to do the little things that most teams aren't willing to do1. It may not look pretty to the ordinary person, but to us it’s a well-oiled machine working in sync. I’ve played the position for almost ten years and personally it’s the greatest position on the field. So next time you are watching your team play, take a peek at the o-line and watch the nastiness that goes on in the trenches and know that o-lineman love pancakes.
  1. OLine.ca::Quotes.(n.d.).RetrievedJanuary21,2016,from http://www.oline.ca/coaches/oline_quotes.html
  2. Nason,A.n.d.).TheGreatestPositionNeverSeen:TheOffensiveLine.Retrieved January21,2016,fromhttp://bleacherreport.com/articles/313291-the-greatest-posistion-never-seen-the-offensive-line


2 comments:

  1. Everything starts with the offensive line. That is the most important position in the game, without the big hogs up front nothing will be able to have enough time to work itself out. I agree with your blog and more people need to know about this in today's game

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  2. Undoubtably the most under appreciated segment of a football team. All action begins upfront with the offensive line, we see it year in and year out a mediocre team with a great O-line can win while a super talented team with a poor O-line struggles.

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