During this week leading up to the Super Bowl, you’ll hear about the stars of the game.
Most stories won’t include the linemen, on offense or defense, but they’re often the ones who make the difference. At the same
time, while ice storms like Fern sweep through the southeast, it’s the linemen who are there in tough temperatures and conditions to fix the snapped lines… who save lives of people they’ll probably never meet.
Thanks go out to these tough linemen, on the field or on the snowy streets of our cities, from a grateful writer.
When Fern hit Nashville, downed trees and heavy ice on the power lines led to lots of snapped wires, and thousands without power, including my parents. They’re from up North, so they knew what to do. But after several days, it can be hard to be “powerless.” My siblings and I begged them to go to a shelter, one of thousands the city provided. But they wanted to tough it out.
They couldn’t call the Nashville Electric Service (NES) as their cell service was out. So I contacted them. Being out of state, their text service thought I was a bot. Nor did I know their account when I called, but we figured it out through a progression of phone numbers tied to the account. Imagine my relief when power was restored later that day. Thanks, NES, and the linemen from Tennessee, and the many who came in from out of state in relief. This is to honor you, even though many will never know your names, or what ‘IBEW’ stands for.
We also appreciate those in Georgia who did the same for our own ice and sub-freezing temperatures.
Being a lineman is dangerous work. There’s news about a lineman electrocuted when he and others were fixing the lines in Louisiana and Mississippi. A student told me the pay is good, but the pressure is high. It’s the same for linemen in the National Football League. Dr. Benjamin Domb, who treated several players, wrote, “Football is a high contact sport associated with a high frequency of injuries despite extensive protective gear… In general, the offensive lineman positions are found to sustain the highest number of injuries.”
But like our electrical linemen, the offensive and defensive linemen of the NFL aren’t just unsung heroes. They are the difference between making the playoffs, or even the Super Bowl, or not.
We know the stereotype of football players being big dumb guys. I have had the privilege of teaching several members of the offense and defense line at LaGrange College. They include a presidential scholar, as well as another graduate who went on to get his degree in cybersecurity from Georgia Tech, and a tight end who got a 4.0 in graduate school in education. You’ve got to be pretty sharp to be a lineman, on the powerlines or in the game of football.
Only three of the bottom thirteen teams for defensive line play made the NFL playoffs, and one of them had a losing record, according to Sharp Football Analysis. Six of the top nine made the playoffs. For the offensive line last year, only one of the top 10 didn’t make the playoffs, with the Eagles having the number one offensive line; all are earned Super Bowl rings in last year’s game.
So this Super Bowl, appreciate the great holes carved up by the offensive line, or the pass protection perhaps the sack by the defensive line, or even the incredible 3rd- or 4th-down stand they put up in the game.
By the same token, appreciate the power that the electric lineman help keep going, enabling you to stay warm, keep the lights on, and even watch the big game.
Our country owes you one.