THE BLIND SIDE

THERE was a time when the left tackle on an American football team was just another anonymous giant. Now they’re among the top earners on most NFL teams. Acclaimed author Michael Lewis found out why in a fascinating new book, but discovered an incredible story along the way. Michael Moynihan reports.

READERS of a certain age may remember Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants, an 80’s pass-rushing linebacker whose fearsome strength and speed forced defences to redefine the job description of the left tackle, the player who lined up opposite Taylor.

Previously just anonymous behemoths, those left tackles suddenly became highly prized — and rewarded — as American football coaches needed huge, fast men to defend against Taylor’s attacks on the ‘blind side’ of the quarter-back. Most quarter-backs are right-handed (including Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning and the Chicago Bears’ Rex Grossman, who contest the Superbowl tomorrow), so they can’t easily see what’s approaching from their left. When it was Taylor, he usually arrived with murderous intent.