By Ryan Tipps
D3sports.com

Like many mechanisms in our lives, when they're working flawlessly, you barely even notice they exist. But a breakdown in the machine doesn't just ripple nearby -- it crashes the system.

In this way, sports parallels life -- and life on offense revolves around the men in the trenches.

Few other players are so deeply entwined with the successes and failures of those around them than offensive linemen. Their performance is tied to that of the running back's yardage or the quarterback's ability to get a pass off. Others must succeed for linemen themselves to appear successful. 

And when it comes to criticism, linemen can be their own harshest critics.

"After a game, when I look back at it, I think if I give up any sacks, obviously that's on me. That's a play I couldn't get off," said Mike Stoffel, an academic All-Conference left tackle for Johns Hopkins. "On a run play, if I'm not driving the guy back four yards, or if I don't get him off the line enough to where he makes the tackle for a loss, then that's pretty much my fault. I gauge it upon how many plays were solely my fault. Or if I could've made the correct play, could we have gotten a touchdown or a first down?"

Regardless of the good or the bad that takes place on the field, you won't find their stats in the final box score, which can leave them overlooked and in some ways anonymous to fans, media or other officials.

The public perception of these players is hopelessly scattered in its current state. And the linemen know that.

"I think as an offensive line as a whole, I think we are maybe a little overlooked by the average fan," said N.C. Wesleyan lineman Joseph Stutts. "But I think fans that are in the know know that it all starts in the trenches. That's where the battles are won and lost."

Josh George was an all-conference performer on the line for Wilkes in 2007. Photo by Matt Milless for D3sports.com

Stoffel echoes that sentiment almost exactly: "As for the fans, just the like the common fan ... I don't think linemen really get the respect that they deserve. You see the stats of the running back, quarterback and receivers and stuff like that, and (linemen) are just down there battling it out. They don't really seem to get the respect of all the fans."

But not all linemen see things this way. Josh George, an all-conference right tackle and fifth-year senior at Wilkes, suggests that respect from people may be latent, but it is there.

"The line is a lot more respected than everyone thinks," he said. "But, it's ... the unsung hero thing. We're not the guys everyone looks at, scoring touchdowns or making all-out runs. It's definitely good to be considered and to be acknowledged for the success of the team."

Respect. It's a term that comes up often when talking with offensive linemen. But there's no remorse or regret or ego when they discuss it. They are proud of their roles on the field, even if some people don't really notice. Stutts notes, too, that the others on the team are quicker than the average fan to dole out credit.

"My teammates and coaches respect what I do and what the offensive line does," said Stutts, 24. "They know that's going to win them or lose them the game. You can have all the skill positions in the world, but if you don't have the offensive line, you're not going to get much done."

Yet when teammates try to praise the men up front for their efforts, that praise can get lost in the shuffle.

"Whenever the running back and the quarterback are interviewed," Stoffel said, "they always mention the offensive line. The reporter doesn't usually put it in the paper, so it may not look like it. That's part of why we don't get any presence because we just don't get put in there. But I've been there for an interview, and they (the skill players) definitely said something about the offensive line."

It's unlikely that you'll see an offensive lineman chosen as a conference player of the week. And even by some indicators, linemen are honored as a unit instead of by the tricky task of singling out individual's performances.

But that might be OK by them. In few places is there such a strong focus on the team rather than the person. It's almost selfless -- "That's our job," as Stutts puts it.

Joseph Stutts knows he has the respect of coaches and teammates. Photo by RC Workman for D3sports.com

It was November 2007, and N.C. Wesleyan was playing in its first playoff game ever -- and Stutts, a guard, was up front ready to make history. A lowly eighth seed was pitted against the No. 1 seeded Washington & Jefferson. The upset that ensued was the first of its kind in the Division III playoffs. In the last two series of regulation, the W&J defensive line was "huffing and puffing," as Stutts puts it, fighting to stave off NCWC's no-huddle offense. "They were tired, been beat on all day. As an offensive line, we basically took control of that game at that point. We were running the ball right down their throats." The control paid off, opening holes for rushers, giving the quarterback time to throw and backing the highly touted Presidents into overtime. "The offensive line looked at each other and thought that there's no way we're going to lose this game. Their front seven is not going to beat our front seven as tired as they were." The offensive line changed the tide of the day and carried the Battling Bishops to a 35-34 win and Round 2. It was one of Stutts' proudest moments.

Mount Union coach Larry Kehres raised eyebrows last year by passing on a host of skill players to nominate a lineman, Derek Blanchard, for the coveted Gagliardi Trophy, Division III's award for excellence in athletics, academics and community service. It was a burst of recognition -- and respect -- for the position.

That kind of honor is fitting for an offensive lineman, where well-roundedness trumps a game-day performance that in many ways is hard to calculate.

"I want to be remembered as a pretty good football player. But I also want to be remembered as a good student-athlete," Stutts said. "After last semester, I had a 3.4 GPA. I want to be remembered as both good in the classroom and good on the field."

Linemen, even as the "unsung heroes" on the field, have their own heroes -- people they look to for direction, confidence and improvement.

George finds that figurehead in Wilkes' head coach.

"Frank Sheptock has been great. He's been there to help me out. On the field, off the field, his big thing is being a man, a family member, taking care of your family. Everything else falls second to that. ... He stresses the fact that you have to be a man before you can be a football player," said George, a 22-year-old business major who signed with Clarion University on a partial scholarship before playing for the Colonels.

Mike Stoffel protects the blind side of Hewitt Tomlin, Johns Hopkins' freshman quarterback. Johns Hopkins athletics photo

Stoffel was just a freshman, playing in a game that took place long before his college career became a successful one. He took the field in the last four games that season -- one of those games still embedded in his memory. "We kept running counter, and they kept stopping it," he remembers. He was angry -- "ticked" as he put it -- and hoped Johns Hopkins could try it just one more. He said he thought he had figured out how to stop it -- at least he hoped he had. The coach gave the green light to go at it again. On the ensuing play, the defender came across, and the running back came up behind. Stoffel plowed the defender. It took Stoffel three plays to figure out how to connect the way he should, but in the end, it paid off for the first-year player from New Jersey: The running back scampered down the field 70 yards and into the end zone.

As a unit on the field, there is defined solidarity and a certain amount of pep among linemen. Stoffel guards the left side for a right-handed quarterback, so trust is implicit. George relishes ripping a hole in the defense -- then doing it again on the next play. Stutts enjoys the surprises on the field, and there were plenty of them blocking for the quarterbacks and rushers who have come through NCWC. 

"I prefer run blocking. That's what I do, that's my specialty," Stutts said, excitedly. "I would love to just pound the ball, pound the ball and pound the ball."

Unfortunately for him, his team splits its offense about 50-50 between run plays and passes. But his statement identifies the pride that linemen take in their work. Every play is physical. It's literally a knock-down battle each snap at the line of scrimmage.

They are the rule, rather than the exception, as to why many plays work as well as they do. And it wouldn't hurt to acknowledge those efforts -- it can even be as simple as a "thank you."

As George points out: "It's nice to hear stuff like that because we don't hear it too often."