From Gino Marchetti to Bruce Smith: The evolution of the NFL sack record

by Jason Pauley

Until recently we have only known the career and single-season sack records from 1982 to the present. This caused us to underrate and overlook some legends of the past because we didn’t have a sack total associated with them. While Deacon Jones is often discussed as one of the greatest, some guys like Al “Bubba” Baker, Alan Page, Carl Eller, and Jack Youngblood don’t often get the recognition they deserve. Now, thanks to the research of John Turney and Nick Webster, Pro Football Reference has added unofficial sack data going back to 1960. So I wanted to share the new sack record evolution over time, and highlight the players along the way who held the new unofficial all-time sack record. Below are the five players who each held the cumulative all-time record at some point.

Gino Marchetti

(Baltimore Colts)

Record Holder from 1960–1962

Career Sacks: 56 (8 seasons before 1960 not included)

Marchetti was a 7-time All-Pro, who likely accumulated more sacks before 1960 than he did after 1960. In 1960, his 9th season, he registered 11.0 sacks (12-game season) to lead the league and become what we now know as the first holder of the all-time sack record. He would go on to record 13.0 and 12.0 sacks the next two seasons and own the record for three years. He played 89 games before 1960 and 72 after. Just for fun, extrapolating his per-game average would give him 125 career sacks (27th all-time hypothetically). His career per-game average was 0.78.

Jim Katcavage

(New York Giants)

Record holder from 1963–1965

Career Sacks: 91.5 (4 seasons before 1960 not included)

Katcavage, who I will now give the nickname “Savage Cavage”, also played significant time before 1960. 1960 was his 5th season, but he only had 5.5 sacks that year, forcing him to play catch-up on Marchetti for the sack record. Although he and Marchetti were playing at the same time, he would eventually catch Marchetti and take the record, due to an 11.5 sack season in 1961, and then NFL leading totals of 16.0 and 20.5 the next two years. Again, doing a little extrapolating to adjust for his 45 career games before 1960 would give him 126 sacks (26th all-time), one less than Marchetti. His career per game average was 0.76.

Deacon Jones

(LA Rams, SD Chargers, Washington)

Record holder from 1966–1996

Career Sacks: 173.5

Jones, an 8-time Pro Bowler, 5-time All-Pro, and Hall of Famer, played his entire career in the new post-1960 sack era. He came into the league in 1961, when Katcavage and Marchetti were seasoned veterans. He averaged 9 sacks a year from 1961–1963, then it took him three more seasons (22.0, 19.0, 16.0 from 1964–66) to catch up with Katcavage and take over the record which he would hold for 31 years. He would go on to have 20+ sacks in three seasons (all in the 14-game era) and lead the league in sacks in 5 of the 6 seasons from 1964–69. His career per game average was 0.91.

Reggie White

(Philadelphia, Green Bay, Carolina)

Record holder from 1997–2002

Career Sacks: 198

In White’s rookie season he had 13.0 sacks, which at the time was the official single-season sack record for a rookie, which would eventually be broken by Jevon Kearse in 1999. We now know, due to the new pre-1982 sack data, that the unofficial rookie record (and record in general) would be Al “Bubba” Baker with the Detroit Lions in 1978 with 23.0. White would take the career record from Deacon Jones in 1997, his third to last season. From 1985–1993 he would string together 9 consecutive seasons with double-digit sacks, leading the league in 1987 (21.0) and 1988 (18.0). The Hall of Famer made the Pro Bowl in every season except his first and last (13 times) and was an All-Pro eight times (6 times in a row from 1986–91). He retired after 1998 but came back after a year off to play for Carolina. He started 16 games that year and recorded 5.5 sacks at the age of 39. His career per game average was 0.85.

Bruce Smith

(Buffalo, Washington)

Record holder from 2003+

Career Sacks: 200

In Smith’s final season with Washington in 2003, he would take the all-time record by getting 5.0 sacks and ending his career with 200.0 sacks, a record that still stands 19 years later. The Hall of Famer and 8-time All-Pro never recorded a 20 sack season like the three record-holders before him, but he was consistently dominant for a long time. Shockingly, he never led the league in sacks but was 2nd three times and top 5, six times. He had a season-best of 19.0. Longevity (played to 40), health (17 seasons with 12+ games), and consistency (13 seasons with 10+ sacks) are traits that have propelled Smith to the record that he will continue to hold for a very long time (V.Miller is the closest active player with 106). His career per game average was 0.72.

Hopefully, at some point, the NFL will officially recognize sack data prior to 1982, so that these players get the true credit they deserve. And I’m looking forward to updating the story when the next John Turney and Nick Webster grind all the tape and play-by-play data from the 1940s and ’50s, so we can see the sack totals for guys like Bucko Kilroy, Vic Sears, and Len Ford.