My Health and Human Performance Internship: The Neglected and the Unnoticed Body Guards

By Andy Tobias

(L-R) George Coles, Jayson Shurland, Andy Tobias, Dashey Ramsey, Bryan Smith, and Cameron Clark.

As a former Ferrum College football player and soon to be Ferrum alumni, one last step before becoming a part of the real world is the completion of the Health and Human Performance internship. With me working towards a coaching minor, it only seemed fitting to complete this internship with the Ferrum College football staff.

This week consisted of me observing and learning about the jobs of the body guards, the offensive line men. Coach Summers is the one with his hands on the reins, meaning he is the one that teaches the meetings and he is also the Offensive Coordinator. Sitting in on these meetings gave me a different perspective of the sport of football. I’ve established that this group of kids do not get enough credit. This position works just as hard as other positions but they don’t get half as much the acknowledgement.

In the meetings, I learned there are two main jobs of the body guards, one being to protect the quarterback in pass protection then there is running back protection through run blocking. Inside of these two jobs, there is so much thought and skill that needs to be applied that allows an offensive lineman to achieve greatness. To be a good offensive lineman has a lot to do with good foot movement and good hand placement.

You may be wondering why I named this journal The Neglected and the Unnoticed, but you are soon to be informed. How many times a game do offensive line men score? How often do their names get yelled out over the intercom? How many times does the media blame a loss on the offensive line men not making their blocks? This happens, sometimes, if the offensive line group is really bad, but in that matter they are getting a negative side of praise.

They are neglected and unnoticed because most of the time the only time the body guards are noticed is when they are doing the wrong thing. For the amount of work, these guys put in they do not get enough credit. For an offensive lineman to get awards all of the coaches for different teams have to vote the player in to even get an honorable mention. The only real praise the body guards get is if they are the best of the best and they get recognized by all the surrounding teams. As a former body guard for Ferrum College, I feel sympathy for this group of young men.