An Ode to the 'Big Uglies'

They are unappreciated, underrated and for the most part, unknown to the majority of football fans. They battle against the most physically imposing athletes in the country. They are silent, unyielding and serve as the foundation upon which all football success is built.

They are the "big uglies."

They are offensive linemen.

Duke head coach David Cutcliffe, in his Tuesday press conference, praised redshirt senior Perry Simmons for registering his 3,000th career snap played Saturday in the game against Georgia Tech. If Cutcliffe had not broached the subject, Simmons' accomplishment would have gone unnoticed by the press and Blue Devil fans alike.

Everybody knows the name of the starting quarterback, the fast-as-lighting running back, the jumps-out-of-the-gym wide receiver and the hits-like-a-wrecking-ball linebacker. But few people, even those who call themselves true fans, could name their team's entire offensive line. Some might not even be able to list just one of the lineman that protects their prized quarterback or running back.

Offensive linemen don't even have true statistics. In media reports and on post game stat sheets, the O-line numbers are mysteriously missing.

Quarterbacks get a numerical rating every game based on different performance factors; shouldn't offensive linemen receive similar treatment? Someone could theoretically rate offensive linemen in a similar manner and assign each one a rating after every game to help evaluate their performance.

Then maybe fans would start taking more of an interest in their team's front five. Offensive linemen could become draft-able in fantasy football and start receiving the same attention as quarterbacks and wide receivers.

But this probably won't happen. Instead, offensive linemen will continue to be remembered by a less-glamorous, but equally important, statistic than those of their offensive counterparts—number of snaps played.

The 2013 Duke football media guide holds every recorded statistic for every Blue Devil listed on the game-day roster, more than 100 players. But the only real statistic for offensive linemen is the number of career snaps played.

In a way, this encapsulates much of the offensive lineman's nature. His success is judged by his ability to endure; no recognition of big plays, just acknowledgment for standing his ground in between the pylons.

So to go along with with the most unappreciated men on the gridiron, we also have the most underrated statistic.

I say underrated because people do not treat career snaps for linemen like they treat similar statistics in other sports.

For instance, baseball fans dubbed Cal Ripken Jr. the "Iron Man" after he broke Lou Gehrig's record of 2,131 consecutive starts, and Ripken didn't even have 300-plus pound defensive ends trying to run him over every game.

Even for football players, the career snaps statistic does not serve as the most prominent accolade for longevity. Instead this title goes to, of course, the quarterback. Everyone knows that Brett Favre has the most consecutive starts for a quarterback in NFL history. Finding out which NFL offensive lineman has the most career snaps is a much more daunting task.

But that is, unfortunately, the nature of the game. All that's left to do is try and give credit where it is due—to the brave men who subject themselves to vicious trench warfare anywhere from 50 to 80 snaps per game.

Let's start with Duke.

In 40 starts over a four-year career, Simmons has been on the field more than any other player on the Blue Devils' roster, amassing a total of 3,012 career snaps.

Left guard Dave Harding ranks second among the offensive linemen in terms of career snaps—the redshirt senior has amassed 2,467 in his five years at Duke. That's more than double the amount of snaps played by quarterbacks Anthony Boone and Brandon Connette combined.

Right guard Laken Tomlinson has 2,164 career snaps to his credit. That's more than Juwan Thompson, Josh Snead and Jela Duncan—the Blue Devils' three most-experienced tailbacks—combined.

Next in line comes left tackle Takoby Cofield with 1,443 snaps. Just a redshirt junior, Cofield should be on pace to pass the 3,000-mark if he can remain injury-free over the next two years.

With just 330 career snaps, center Matt Skura rounds out the unit. Although relatively inexperienced, the redshirt sophomore has plenty of time left in his career to join the likes of his fellow linemen in the 2,000 or 3,000-plus range.

The on-field experience of all five of Duke's starting offensive linemen is a testament to their success, and the improvement of the Blue Devils' ground game in the past two seasons points to the skill and hard work of the big guys up front.

Last year, Duke averaged 125.2 yards per game rushing, the highest total by a Blue Devil squad since 2005. This year, Duke is averaging 187.3 yards on the ground through its first three games.

So to all the offensive lineman who toil week after week, crash against defensive lineman snap after snap but rarely receive credit rightfully deserved—thank you.