LOOKING BACK
By John Turney
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| Mackey Award. This is for the Linebacker of the Year, but the Lineman of the Year trophy was the same. |
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| NFL Alumni NFL Offensive Lineman of the Year Trophy |
To football fans the most familiar "honor" and offensive lineman can win is being voted to one of the various All-Pro teams in any given year. The Associated Press, United Press International, Newspaper Enterprise Association and the Pro Football Writers of America are the teams that are the most traditional and that are included in the NFL Record and Fact Book, which is released yearly.
However, at times there have been additional awards given out by press organizations, often with corporate sponsors and also by the NFLPA and the NFL Alumni Association that honor offensive linemen and were often accompanied by a Trophy and a dinner given by the club in question.
The voters were often NFL players or former NFL players or former players or coaches. The following is a list of those award winners that ranged from 1956 and went through 2010. We are not going into detail on each award at this time but at a future date, we will revisit this.
Anthony Munoz won awards in 1981-82 and 1986-90. Dwight Stephenson won the AFC Lineman of the Year Award from 1983-87 (5 times).
I wonder why Bob Kuechenberg didn't get any love for these awards? Mack truck awards? That is awesome, didn't know that even existed.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the feeling about Ron Yary's level of play in the late 70s? I thought he was good but not great in games i saw.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, but in 1981 had great comeback year. Pro Bowl level that year.
DeleteWow really? 80 was a disaster for Yary with many sacks, forces, and holds allowed. I'll have to check him out in 81.
ReplyDeleteYary is a real interesting case. He gets no love today, and I always figured it was because he was a Viking (0-4 in Super Bowls - Tarkenton, Eller, Tingelhoff, even Page get historically dinged), but all I've read about him is that he was good and not great. However he was a consensus all-pro 5 times out of 6 seasons ('71-'76). That is really incredible and is a feat that few OL can claim. So there's a disconnect there, reconciling his reputation with all of those all-pro teams he was on. How good was he, really? I'm stumped.
ReplyDeleteHis best years came in early 70s I guess. Not much full game film available from those times.
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ReplyDeleteAnyone know how and/or by whom these awards were selected, other than the NFLPA (which was voted by players) and the AP (which was voted by writers)?
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