Faceless No Longer

Football fans, as normally-proportioned people following the exploits of giants, have traditionally cheered the loudest for the Doug Fluties of the world — those average-sized players they might most easily imagine as stunt doubles for themselves.

In the future, though, as the obesity rate rises past the 50-percent mark and the everyman becomes a heavy man, a heretofore unheralded sect of the football community may emerge as heroes. The offensive lineman, who in striving to fill his role on the team must learn to consider a missed meal as unforgivable as a missed block, has ample reason to hope that a spotlight — or two — may someday lead him from the shadows.

Until that day, five Princeton offensive linemen are content to spend this season, their last as Tigers, in familiarly unlit territory. Despite the preseason buzz that has accompanied the fact that Princeton's offensive line is composed of five seniors with starting experience, the linemen themselves remain grounded in reality.

"It's all the same for us," senior right tackle Dave Szelingowski, a third-year starter, said of the media attention. "Once the season starts and somebody rushes for 100 yards, it'll go back to how it used to be."

"We're kind of the faceless group of the team," senior left tackle Ben Brielmaier agreed before adding, "And, you know, I think that's the way it should be."

Joining Szelingowski and Brielmaier in that group are three of their classmates: center Andrew Wilson, right guard Andrew Aurich and left guard Paul Lyons. Together, they figure to be a heavily relied-upon piece of a Tiger offense that begins the season with question marks at running back, quarterback and wide receiver.

For his part, head coach Roger Hughes seems delighted with the prospect of his humble, yet confident offensive line setting the tone not only for his offense, but also for his entire team.

"We've got a more experienced offensive line," Hughes said, "but we really don't have any established skill players [on offense]. I think it's a unique situation for a very team-oriented, lookout-for-your-teammate type of chemistry to develop."

If Hughes indeed craves team-wide chemistry, his best hope may well be holding up the camaraderie that already exists among his quintet of senior offensive linemen as an example to the rest of his charges.

"Since we were freshmen," Szelingowski said, "we've done everything together. You see other guys come straggling into meetings at different times, but we get together, we walk down to breakfast together, we go to meetings together. That's how we work."

And their work ethic has already produced tangible results on the field. Last season, with an injured Lyons the only one of this year's starting five not filling the same role, the offensive line helped Princeton running backs average an effective 3.7 yards per carry, the second-best mark in the Ivy League.

Also assets to the passing game, the Tiger offensive linemen allowed just 17 sacks in 10 games last season, tied with Penn for the third fewest in the Ivies.

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But the line was at its best when the pressure was the strongest, proving to Hughes that it could be relied upon to create opportunities even on fourth down. Princeton converted on 11 of 20 fourth-down attempts last season, good for a 55 percent success rate that was the best in the league.

"We take it upon ourselves to carry the team and get things done in critical situations," Brielmaier said. "And when we're at a pivotal point in the game, we have to push forward and get the team where it needs to be."

Much of this confidence is a product of the impressive individual pedigrees to which each of the five senior starters can lay claim.

Aurich, at 275 pounds, possesses a surfeit of athleticism that helped him become a star basketball player in high school. Wilson, who as a guard was named Princeton Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2002, has proven versatile and intelligent enough to be trusted to replace second-team all-Ivy selection Jeremy Moore, whom the team lost to graduation. Having missed all of last season to injury, Lyons will return as the line's only 300-pounder and quite possibly its biggest talent.

It was Brielmaier, though, whose leadership capabilities got him named co-captain, along with senior linebacker Justin Stull, for the 2005 season. That Brielmaier has advanced so far as an offensive lineman is made more impressive by the fact that, until the 2004 preseason, he was a defensive tackle.

"I really feel like [the switch from defense to offense] was one of the best decisions I ever made," Brielmaier said. "I've enjoyed every minute, and I've never regretted it since."

Rounding out the line is the durable Szelingowski, who continues to improve and, more importantly, help his teammates do the same.

"You learn to play with a guy next to you," Szelingowski said, "and you know what he's going to do before he even does it. You don't have to talk as much, you don't have to worry about who you're going to pick up. It makes things a lot easier."

Should Szelingowski's sentiments prove true, the veteran leadership that he and his linemates provide has a good chance to ease the Tigers right up the Ivy League standings.