Bills Dion Dawkins Hard Work Rewarded With Major Announcement

Of all the positions and responsibilities on the football field, offensive line may be the least sexy of them all. The five men working in the trenches do not draw clips or attention for impressive plays. 

Without really any statistics to pile up or much else of the sort, much of what an offensive lineman does can go unnoticed, especially to a casual eye. 

However, that does not make their jobs any less important. Anyone involved in football at all levels realizes that truth. But Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins has fought for he and his peers to receive their deserved acclaim. 

As of a league announcement on Wednesday, he will finally see his ambitions come to fruition. The NFL announced that the league will begin awarding the "Protector of the Year" award beginning next season. 

NFL Executive VP of Football Operations Troy Vincent credited Dawkins and former lineman Andrew Whitworth for spiriting the idea. 

Dawkins campaigned on this matter earlier this year ahead of the Bills' appearance in the AFC Championship game. 

"Offensive linemen don't have awards for being great," Dawkins said. "There's not a Protector of the Year award. I'm knocking at so many doors now to get this award going. I'm gonna spearhead it and make sure it gets done before I'm done playing. Because there's so many greats. 

"There's so many greats. We have great quarterbacks, we have great running backs, we have rushing titles, we have quarterback passing titles. All those titles are reflections on the O-linemen, which are the protectors."

Lineman have obviously had inclusion in the Pro Bowl, All-Pro and Hall of Fame selections for years. But this is a first of its kind individual recognition for this group of players. 

Frankly, it is long overdue. Regardless, Dawkins' hard work will benefit a number of linemen playing with him and that come after him.