Quarterback sack - Definition and Overview

In American football and Canadian football, a quarterback sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass. This often occurs if the opposing team's defensive line or linebackers are able to quickly get past blocking players of the offensive team, the quarterback's protection; or if the quarterback is unable to find, in a reasonable amount of time, an available receiver who can catch the ball, allowing the defense a longer opportunity to tackle the quarterback.

Yards lost on the play are added as negative yardage to the quarterback's passing totals. 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.

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. It may refer to the tackled player's metaphorically being put in a sack, as when one "bags" a hunted animal.

NFL all-time quarterback sack leaders

1. Bruce Smith - 200
2. Reggie White - 198
3. Kevin Greene - 160
4. Chris Doleman - 150½
5. Richard Dent - 137½
6. John Randle - 137½
7. Leslie O'Neal - 132½
8. Lawrence Taylor - 132½
9. Rickey Jackson - 128
10. Derrick Thomas - 126½
11. Clyde Simmons - 121½
12. Michael Strahan - 118
13. Sean Jones - 113
14. Greg Townsend - 109½
15. Pat Swilling - 107½
16. Trace Armstrong - 106
17. Neil Smith - 104½
18. Jim Jeffcoat - 102½
19. Simeon Rice - 101
20. William Fuller - 100½
21. Charles Haley - 100½
22. Andre Tippett - 100

List is as of December 5, 2004. Bold denotes active players.