Bruce Smith

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other people named Bruce Smith, see Bruce Smith (disambiguation).

Bruce Smith
Date of birth	June 18, 1963
Place of birth	Norfolk, VA
Position(s)	Defensive End
College	Virginia Tech
NFL Draft	1985 / Round 1 / 1st Overall
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	11
Awards	1996 AP NFL Defensive MVP, 1996 UPI AFC Defensive MVP, 1990 AP NFL Defensive MVP, 1990 UPI AFC Defensive MVP, 1988 UPI AFC Defensive MVP, 1987 UPI AFC Defensive MVP, 1987 Pro Bowl MVP, 1984 Outland Trophy
Honors	NFL 1990s All-Decade Team NFL 1980s All-Decade Team Virginia Tech Hall of Fame College Football Hall of Fame
Retired #s	Virginia Techs #78
Records	NFL Sacks in a Career (200), Buffalo Bills Career Sacks (171), Virginia Tech Career Sacks (46), Virginia Tech Tackles for Loss (71)
Stats
Statistics	CBS.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1985-1999 2000-2003	Buffalo Bills Washington Redskins

Bruce Smith (b. June 18, 1963) is a former NFL football player who currently holds the NFL record for most career quarterback sacks with 200. He was born in Norfolk, Virginia.

[edit] Pro Football career

Bruce Smith attended Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills as the number one draft pick overall in the 1985 NFL Draft. Smith became known as a sack specialist, with 15 in 1986 and a personal season-best 19 in 1990. By 1989, Smith had already become the Bills' all-time sack leader when he reached his 52nd sack. In 1990, his defensive performance helped bring the Bills to Super Bowl XXV, but they eventually lost to the Bill Parcells-led New York Giants. Still Smith had an impressive performance in the game. He sacked Jeff Hostetler in the end zone for a safety in the second quarter, and later forced New York to turn the ball over on downs by tackling running back Ottis Anderson for a 2-yard loss on a fourth down conversion attempt.

At the height of his career Smith was known as one of the NFL's most fearsome defensive players, his sack record attests to this, though his public demeanor suggested he was quite mild-mannered off the field.

In 1991, Smith was hampered by knee problems and sat out most of the season.

During these years, Smith continued to be named to the Pro Bowl every season from 1987 to 1998 (except for his injury-laden 1991 season). In 1987, he was named the Pro Bowl MVP. Smith was twice named the AP's NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1990, 1996) and thrice named UPI's AFC Defensive Player of the Year (1988, 1990, 1996).

By 1996, Smith was still putting up prolific numbers, with 90 tackles and 14 sacks. By 1997, Smith had 65 tackles and 14 sacks and by 1998, although he was getting older he still had a respectable 50 tackles and 10 sacks.

After the 1999 season, Smith signed with the Washington Redskins as a free agent. In his first season, he posted 58 tackles and 10 sacks, although he was now playing in mostly in passing situations. He pressed onward in pursuit of Reggie White's all-time sacks record (198), which he finally passed in the thirteenth game of his nineteenth season in 2003. Smith finished the season with 200 career sacks.

Smith had hinted in interviews that 2003 would be his final season. However, he never completely ruled out continuing to play. But on February 24, 2004, the Redskins released Smith, saving $6.5 million in salary cap space.[1]

In his 19 NFL seasons, Smith played in 279 games, amassing 200 sacks, 2 interceptions, 33 forced fumbles, and 15 fumble recoveries, which he returned for 33 yards and a touchdown. Also, of his 19 seasons in the NFL, 14 of them were seasons where he had at least 10 sacks, a testament to his consistency year and year out.

In 1999, he was ranked number 58 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

In 2006, Bruce was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

[edit] External links

Virginia Tech Hall of Fame
Pro-Football-Reference.com - career statistics

Preceded by: Reggie White (198)	Record for NFL Sacks in a Career 2003-current (200)	Succeeded by: Current
Preceded by: Dean Steinkuhler	Outland Trophy Winners 1984	Succeeded by: Mike Ruth