Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins can finally heave a sigh of relief. The four-time Pro Bowler often advocated for an honor to recognize offensive linemen’s contributions. The NFL has turned his ambition into a reality and has introduced a new award for the OLs.
The big fellas of the gridiron will have something to look forward to in the award ceremonies. Here’s what the NFL has created for them and who they credited for inspiring it.
Dion Dawkins’ Efforts Pay Off As NFL Announces New Honor
The NFL announced on Wednesday that the Protector of the Year award will debut next season at NFL Honors. The award will honor the efforts of those giving it their all in the trenches. They quoted Dawkins to make the news public.
“We might not have all the fancy stars or end up on a highlight reel every week, but without us, there’s no rushing titles, passing titles, or touchdowns,” the quote read.
The offensive lineman has long been the unsung hero of every great offense.
That changes this season, when we’ll recognize the best in the game with the Protector of the Year Award at NFL Honors.
Learn more: https://t.co/ocvfHG81Eu pic.twitter.com/ufUT6Az6Ls
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) May 21, 2025
NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent credited Dion Dawkins and Andrew Whitworth with pushing the league to recognize offensive linemen. He also revealed that LeCharles Bentley, Jason Kelce, Shaun O’Hara, Orlando Pace, Will Shields, and Andrew Whitworth will be part of the panel that will decide the winner based on skills, metrics, and impact, among other criteria.
Amid the chaos of route running, impeccable throws and brutal tackles, the hog mollies of the gridiron often went unnoticed. They were not appreciated much and sometimes didn’t even get a pat on the back for their role. While quarterbacks, running backs and receivers celebrated laurels, they had to sit back and just clap.
This bias didn’t sit well with Dawkins. During the pre-match conference ahead of the AFC Championship game, he expressed his feelings about the lack of recognition and lauds for offensive linemen.
“You know, offensive linemen don’t have an award for being great. There’s not a Protector of the Year Award. I’m knocking at so many doors to get this award going and I’m gonna head spirit and make sure that this gets done before I’m done playing,” he said.
Dawkins explained the reason behind the need for an award like that.
“Because there are so many greats. So many greats. If we have great quarterbacks, we have great running backs, we have rushing titles, [and] we have quarterback passing titles. All those titles are reflections of the old linemen, which are the protectors,” Dawkins concluded.
Mission accomplished for Dion Dawkins! The NFL has started the Protector of the Year Award given to the league’s best offensive lineman.
The league gave credit to Bills OL @DDawkins66
He spoke it into existence: pic.twitter.com/ShAxkwoYUW
— Josh Reed (@4JoshReed) May 21, 2025
Dawkins shared a tweet to share his feelings after the news was made public.
“History was made today. Something that starting with an Idea and a Conversation and Now the “Protector Of The Year” Award is Here and Here to Stay. Thank you to Everyone involved. Today WE made History #YouAlreadyShnow #ProtectorOfTheYear #history,” he tweeted.
History was made today. Something that starting with an Idea and a Conversation and Now the “Protector Of The Year” Award is Here and Here to Stay. Thank you to Everyone involved. Today WE made History #YouAlreadyShnow #ProtectorOfTheYear #history pic.twitter.com/qzYl7rY8xZ
— Dion Dawkins (@DDawkins66) May 21, 2025
Dawkins will certainly aim to get his hands on the award at least once. The Bills missed out on the Super Bowl appearance last season, Dawkins and Co. will try to get the job done in the upcoming season.