Offensive line play has long been romanticized.
Long before Michael Lewis wrote a best-selling book, countless sportswriters, broadcasters, and fans compared the often unglamorous work done by offensive linemen to that of modern-day gladiators. Every weekend, they engaged in brutal, hand-to-hand combat with oncoming raiders hell-bent on storming their castle and (literally) sacking their leader.
Lewis' now-famous chronicle of Michael Oher, a forgotten teen whose life changed thanks to his massive size and ability to protect others, brought the battle between left tackles and star pass-rushers into the mainstream.