"LEFT TACKLE" - John Guernsey
"LEFT TACKLE"
By John Guernsey
August 2, 2010
Long before it was made into a movie, I came across the book, The Blind Side, by Michael Lewis. It tells the fascinating and hilarious story of an inner city boy and the changing world of professional football. Michael Oher was the neglected son of a Memphis crack addict, who went on to play in college and, now, the Baltimore Ravens.
Woven through Michael's story-more in the book than in the movie-is the evolution of NFL football and the emergence of the importance of the left tackle. And it begins with a moment long-time Monday Night Football fans will remember: linebacker Lawrence Taylor's blindside tackle that broke the leg of Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann in 1985.
As the passing game became the dominant force in professional football, the quarterbacks who could throw the ball with pinpoint accuracy became the key asset of every franchise. That was predictable. What surprised everyone in the game, though, was the new importance of a previously ignored position, that of left tackle. Since most quarterbacks are right handed, as they stand to throw the football, opposing players coming from the left are attacking them from their blindside-hence the title-and the blind side is where they are most vulnerable.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
By John Guernsey
August 2, 2010
Long before it was made into a movie, I came across the book, The Blind Side, by Michael Lewis. It tells the fascinating and hilarious story of an inner city boy and the changing world of professional football. Michael Oher was the neglected son of a Memphis crack addict, who went on to play in college and, now, the Baltimore Ravens.Woven through Michael's story-more in the book than in the movie-is the evolution of NFL football and the emergence of the importance of the left tackle. And it begins with a moment long-time Monday Night Football fans will remember: linebacker Lawrence Taylor's blindside tackle that broke the leg of Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann in 1985.
As the passing game became the dominant force in professional football, the quarterbacks who could throw the ball with pinpoint accuracy became the key asset of every franchise. That was predictable. What surprised everyone in the game, though, was the new importance of a previously ignored position, that of left tackle. Since most quarterbacks are right handed, as they stand to throw the football, opposing players coming from the left are attacking them from their blindside-hence the title-and the blind side is where they are most vulnerable.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
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