ORCHARD PARK -- When Troy Vincent, executive vice president of football operations for the NFL, announced the new Protector of the Year Award on Wednesday, he made sure to highlight the player who worked to make it a reality.
"I'ma give credit to Dion Dawkins from Buffalo. He was truly instrumental, him and Andrew Whitworth, of just making sure that we recognize, as we would say, the big fellas."
Dawkins' suggestion of the award could be heard in many of his news conferences in the last season. The Buffalo Bills left tackle would bring up a need for an award to recognize offensive linemen unprompted, mention it in an answer about something related -- or unrelated -- making note that there isn't an award recognizing the O-line.