If you've been paying attention to Stanford football over the past several years (and obviously you have), you know the story of the Tunnel Workers Union. While Chris Marinelli was toiling at right tackle for the Cardinal in that seminal season of 2009, his father Jim, a member of Tunnel Workers Union Local No. 88 in faraway Quincy, Massachusetts, watched from three thousand miles away and recognized something. Just as he and his coworkers worked in relative anonymity on an infrastructure that allowed a city to grow and thrive, his son and his teammates on the Stanford offensive line were doing much the same thing. While Toby Gerhart was having a phenomenal season and earning accolades from all corners not located in the Downtown Athletic Club, it was the dominance of the offensive line, the blocking tight ends, and the fullback who made his success possible. The elder Marinelli and his union brothers adopted the unsung Stanford heroes and made them honorary members of Local 88, sending hats for the players and coaches responsible for all the dirty work.
And thus a Stanford football tradition was born. It's no secret that an offensive line is key to any football team's success, and so it has been with the Cardinal and the Tunnel Workers Union. The names and numbers have changed over the past eight years, but the mission remains the same: to move a player from Point A to Point B against his will. So let's take a look at some numbers so see how successful the different units have been since 2009.