Bruce Smith

Smith in 2011
No. 78
Position	Defensive end
Personal information
Born	(1963-06-18)June 18, 1963 (age 62) Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	262 lb (119 kg)
Career information
High school	Booker T. Washington (Norfolk)
College	Virginia Tech (1981–1984)
NFL draft	1985: 1st round,1st overall pick
Career history
Buffalo Bills (1985–1999) Washington Redskins (2000–2003)
Awards and highlights
2×NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1990, 1996) 8× First-teamAll-Pro (1987,1988,1990,1993–1997) 3× Second-team All-Pro (1989,1992,1998) 11×Pro Bowl (1987–1990,1992–1998) 2×NFL forced fumbles co-leader (1994, 1996) NFL 1980s All-Decade Team NFL 1990s All-Decade Team NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame Buffalo Bills 50th Anniversary Team Buffalo Bills No. 78 retired Outland Trophy (1984) ConsensusAll-American (1984) First-team All-American (1983) Second-team All-South Independent (1982) Second-team AP All-Time All-American (2025) Virginia Tech Hokies No. 78 retired NFL records Most career sacks: 200 Most seasons with 1+ sacks: 19 Most seasons with 10+ sacks: 13
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles 1,224 Sacks 200 Safeties 2 Forcedfumbles 43 Fumble recoveries 15 Interceptions 2 Defensivetouchdowns 1 Stats atPro Football Reference
Pro Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame

Bruce Bernard Smith (born June 18, 1963) is an American former professionalfootballdefensive end who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with theBuffalo Bills. He playedcollege football for theVirginia Tech Hokies, earningAll-American honors twice, and was selected by the Billsfirst overall in the1985 NFL draft.

Considered one of the greatest defensive ends of all time, Smith is theNFL's all-time career leader in quarterback sacks with 200.^[a] Smith also received 11Pro Bowl selections and eight first-teamAll-Pro honors, while appearing in four consecutiveSuper Bowls with the Bills. He was inducted to theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and thePro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

Smith is a native ofNorfolk, Virginia, where he graduated fromBooker T. Washington High School. In addition to being an All-Americanfootball player in high school, he playedbasketball,baseball, andwrestled.^[1] Smith accepted an athletic scholarship to play football atVirginia Tech.

Known as "the Sack Man"as a Hokie, Smith finished hiscollege career in 1984 as the most honored player in Hokie history. Foreshadowing his future success in pursuing quarterbacks in the NFL, he had a career total of 71 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, for losses totaling 504 yards. Smith had 46 career sacks, including an NCAA-leading 22 during a junior season in 1983 that saw him named First-team All-America by the AFCA (Coaches) and Newspaper Enterprise Association. In 1984, Smith capped off his tenure inBlacksburg with theOutland Trophy, given to the nation's top lineman, and a consensus selection to theAll-America Team. His accomplishments at Virginia Tech earned him a spot in theVirginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame.

Following this stellar collegiate career, Smith was selected by both the Buffalo Bills with the first pick of the1985 NFL draft and by theUnited States Football LeagueBaltimore Stars in the 1985USFL Territorial Draft, and he decided to sign with the Bills.^[2] In his rookie year, he had just 6.5 sacks while starting thirteen games. After a rookie season in which his poor training habits limited his effectiveness, inspiration from teammateDarryl Talley and finding love with a college counselor whom he eventually married inspired him to improve his game.^[3] He quickly became known as a sack specialist, with fifteen in 1986. He had his firstPro Bowl and All-Pro selection the following year while having twelve sacks in twelve games. He recorded a touchdown that season in the December 13 game against theIndianapolis Colts on a fumble recovery in the end zone.^[4] It was his first and only touchdown in his career. He continued his run in1988 with eleven sacks in twelve games. This was the first season for Smith in the playoffs and he would make the most of it with three sacks in two postseason games, although the Bills lost in theAFC title game to theCincinnati Bengals.

In March 1989, as a restricted free agent, Smith signed an offer-sheet with theDenver Broncos for $7.5 million over five years. Smith had excelled as their defensive leader, but the Bills were concerned about him with his substance abuse problem (since he had been suspended four games the previous year for it) and thus had him followed by undercover detectives in November, which stuck with him months later. Faced with the choice between Smith and two draft choices from Denver, the Bills picked Smith.^[5] Now, as the highest-paid defensive player in the league, Smith would stay with the Bills for a considerable amount of time. He responded by playing in all sixteen games of the season and recording thirteen sacks to make his third straight Pro Bowl. He broke the record for sacks by a Bill all-time during the year (51), and he would continue to raise the total for years to come. Some conjecture that his 171 sacks in Buffalo set a standard that "may be unreachable" for future Bills.^[6] He recorded half a sack in thedivisional round playoff game that year, which the Bills lost to theCleveland Browns 34–30.^[7]

The next year, his defensive performance helped bring the Bills toSuper Bowl XXV when he set a personal high in sacks with nineteen (three short of the then record for sacks in a season). He did not have a sack in either of the first two playoff games for the Bills, but Smith saved his efforts forSuper Bowl XXV against theNew York Giants. He sackedJeff Hostetler in the end zone in the second quarter, becoming only the fifth player to record a Super Bowl safety (which gave the Bills a 12–3 lead in the second quarter).^[8] Later, Smith forced New York to turn the ball over on downs by tackling running backOttis Anderson for a two-yard loss on a fourth-down conversion attempt. Only a failed last-secondfield goal attempt thatnarrowly went wide right kept the team from its first NFL championship.^[9]

In 1991, though Smith's knee problems forced him out for most of the season, the Bills once again reached theSuper Bowl. In 1992, in much better health, Smith was again a first-team All-Pro and was voted to the Pro Bowl while recording a team-leading fourteen sacks, and he repeated his sack total the following year.^[10][11] He led the league in forced fumbles twice with five (1994, 1996).

By 1996, though the Bills' run of Super Bowl appearances had ended, Smith was still putting up prolific numbers, with ninetytackles and fourteen sacks. In 1997, Smith had 65 tackles and fourteen sacks and by 1998, although he was getting older, he still had a respectable fifty tackles and ten sacks.^[12][13]

In the final postseason game of his career, he recorded a best in sacks with 2.5 in thewild card round game for the Bills against theTennessee Titans, although they lost 22–16 on alast-second controversial play.^[14][15] Smith, along withAndre Reed andThurman Thomas, were cut from the Bills roster in an emergencysalary cap measure after the 1999 season.^[16]

Smith signed with the Washington Redskins as afree agent. Although he was now playing in mostly passing situations, he posted 58 tackles and ten sacks in his first season.^[17] He pressed onward in pursuit ofReggie White's all-time sacks record (198, achieved in 15 seasons), which he passed in week 14 of the2003 NFL season by sacking New York Giants quarterbackJesse Palmer in a 20–7 win atGiants Stadium.^[18] Smith finished his career with 200 career sacks, the only person ever to reach that mark, on a sack of Chicago Bears quarterbackRex Grossman.^[19]

Smith had hinted in interviews that 2003 would be his final season, but never completely ruled out continuing to play. However, on February 24, 2004, the Redskins released Smith, saving $6.5 million insalary cap space.^[20]

Smith was a first-ballot inductee to the NFL Hall of Fame. In his 19 NFL seasons, Smith played in 279 games, amassing a record 200 sacks, two interceptions, 46 forced fumbles, and 15 fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a 33-yard touchdown. Of his 19 seasons in the NFL, 13 of them were seasons where he had at least ten sacks, a testament to his consistency year in and year out. He was also named to anAll-Pro team ten times. As Smith spent most of his career in a3–4 defensive scheme, a defensive scheme not geared toward creating sack opportunities for defensive ends, many consider the record particularly impressive.^[6] Indeed, Smith's peers elected him to thePro Bowl every season from 1987 to 1998 (with the exception of his injury-shortened 5-game 1991 season). In 1987, he was named the Pro BowlMVP. Smith was twice named theAP's NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1990, 1996), twice the NEA's (1990, 1993) and four times theUPI'sAFC Defensive Player of the Year (1987, 1988, 1990, 1996).

• 1995, inducted into theVirginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
• 1999, while still an active NFL player, Smith was ranked number 58 onThe Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
• 2005, he was inducted into theVirginia Sports Hall of Fame, honoring players from around the state of Virginia.
• 2006, Smith was voted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame.
• 2008, he was part of the inaugural class to be inducted into the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame, an institution honoring athletes, coaches and administrators who made contributions to sports in Southeastern Virginia.
• 2008, inducted onto theBuffalo Bills Wall of Fame in 2008.
• 2009, enshrined in thePro Football Hall of Fame, his first year of eligibility.
• 2016, the Bills announced they were retiring Smith's #78. No player had worn the number since Smith left the team. His number was retired in a halftime ceremony on September 15, 2016, during a game against theNew York Jets.

Smith lives inVirginia Beach, Virginia. Having returned to his home state, Smith works as a large-scale hotel designer, undertaking many projects with Armada Hoffler. Most recently, he returned to Blacksburg, the site of his collegiate successes, where he purchased the Red Lion Inn. He built a Hilton Garden Inn Hotel with 137 sleeping rooms and is working on redeveloping the site (Smith's Landing, hotel and restaurant complex).^[21] ABaptist, he is a member ofQueen Street Baptist Church in Norfolk. Smith and his wife Carmen (who he married in 1990) have a son, Alston (born 1994).

Smith also works withThurman Thomas in their new business venture, Legends Energy Group. They promote energy programs across North America.

Smith,Andre Reed,Thurman Thomas, andJim Kelly were the subject of the30 for 30 filmFour Falls of Buffalo in 2015.^[22][23]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBruce Smith (American football player).

• Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Virginia Tech Hall of FameArchived February 17, 2006, at theWayback Machine
• Pro Football Reference

• 1963 births
• Living people
• All-American college football players
• American Conference Pro Bowl players
• American football defensive ends
• Buffalo Bills players
• College Football Hall of Fame inductees
• First overall NFL draft picks
• Players of American football from Norfolk, Virginia
• Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
• Virginia Tech Hokies football players
• Washington Redskins players
• NFL Defensive Player of the Year winners
• NFL players with retired numbers

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