Anonymous no longer? More recognition could be on the way.
Former Rams great Andrew Whitworth is spearheading a push to shine a spotlight on NFL offensive linemen, a position group that often gets attention for the wrong reasons — surrendering a sack or getting flagged for a penalty.
Whitworth, a retired left tackle and fixture on the Rams’ Super Bowl-winning team a few years ago, wants the league to recognize the season’s best lineman on an annual basis. He has shared the idea with Commissioner Roger Goodell and says he has gotten positive feedback.
The working title for the honor is the “Shield Award,” and Whitworth raised the notion in January when he and the commissioner were guests on a variety show hosted by former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce. Dion Dawkins, Pro Bowl left tackle for the Buffalo Bills, likewise has pushed to honor the league’s best lineman.
“For an offensive lineman, just because you play in a group, the reality on most plays is that it’s one on one,” said Whitworth, a co-host on Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” who attended this week’s annual NFL owners meetings.
“Having an award like this would let an individual stand up there as the best of the best. Every young kid in high school that may be teetering as to whether he wants to be an offensive lineman or not can say, ‘Wow, look at [San Francisco’s] Trent Williams. Look at [Philadelphia’s] Lane Johnson.’ It’s an inspiration to want to be great.”
The idea would be for the NFL to continue to honor the league’s best offensive line but also an exceptional player — a tackle, guard or center who made the most significant impact on his team — on the NFL Honors broadcast during Super Bowl week.
“As an offensive lineman when you’re getting ready to play a game, there’s a little more anxiety because every single play matters,” said Hall of Fame tackle Tony Boselli, executive vice president of football operations for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“In a game, if there’s 70 plays, you can completely dominate a guy for 69 of them. But if you have one bad play at the wrong time and give up a sack, that’s all anyone is going to remember. And by the way, it’s all you’re going to remember too.”
Whitworth said a collection of players and offensive line experts could vote on the award every year, putting the responsibility in the hands of people who truly understand the position.
Most valuable player pretty much has become an award for quarterbacks — the last player to win the award at another position was running back Adrian Peterson in 2012 — and there’s a possibility an inordinate number of left tackles could win a lineman award since those are the players who protect the blind side of right-handed quarterbacks.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Max Starks can envision a disproportionate percentage of centers receiving the proposed honor.
“People might automatically think of left tackles,” Starks said. “But there’s so much that goes with the center position. The centers dictate a lot of the success that your offensive line is having. They’re the brainchild. They’re the first line of offense for the quarterback, and they snap the ball every down.”