Quarterback Sack

In the NFL , yards lost on the play are added as negative yardage to the team's passing totals; the quarterback's individual passing total remains unchanged. Before that change in records-keeping was made, the tackling of a player behind the line of scrimmage resulted in a loss from that player's rushing (running) statistics, even if it was fairly obvious a pass play was intended. NCAA College Football continues to subtract sack yardage from individual rushing totals.

A player will receive credit for half of a sack when multiple players contribute to the sacking of a quarterback.

The term "sack" was not widely used before ca. 1970; previously one would simply refer to a player's being tackled behind the line (of scrimmage), in so many words. The NFL only began to keep track of sacks in 1982 . {Link without Title}

"Quarterback sack" was first invented by Hall Of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones He felt that a sack devastated the offense in the same way that a city was devastated when it was sacked.[http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.jsp?release_id=774

NFL ALL-TIME QUARTERBACK SACK LEADERS

# Bruce Smith - 200
# Reggie White - 198
# Kevin Greene - 160
# Chris Doleman - 150½
# Richard Dent - 137½
# John Randle - 137½
# Leslie O'Neal - 132½
# Lawrence Taylor - 132½
# Michael Strahan - 129½
# Rickey Jackson - 128
# Derrick Thomas - 126½
# Clyde Simmons - 121½
# Simeon Rice - 119
# Sean Jones - 113
# Greg Townsend - 109½
# Pat Swilling - 107½
# Trace Armstrong - 106
# Neil Smith - 104½
# Jim Jeffcoat - 102½
# William Fuller - 100½
# Charles Haley - 100½
# Andre Tippett - 100

Deacon Jones has said that he amassed 180½ sacks, although this is unofficial, as Jones' football career ended before the NFL tracked sacks as an official statistic.

List is as of November 26 , 2005 . Bold denotes active players.

REFERENCES

# NFL Sack Records
# Deacon Jones from The Pro Football Hall of Fame
# Sack Story An article describing the controversy over the sack record

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Quarterback Sack