Ferguson, who was voted Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year in 2018, concluded his collegiate career with 45 sacks, the most in NCAA history. He's thought to be a first-round choice in the 2019 draft.
Ferguson attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he played defensive end for the UNC Tar Heels football team from 2010 through 2018. During his four years as a starter, Ferguson amassed 55 tackles and 15 sacks. He finished his career as the school record holder in both sacks (45) and tackles for loss (55).
The only other player with more than 40 sacks during his college career is New York Giants' legend Bruce Smith. Ferguson joined him as one of only two players with more than 40 sacks in their college career. The other is Ohio State's Ryan Kerrigan. He has 42 1/2 sacks in three seasons after transferring from Florida Atlantic.
Smith went on to become a first-team All-American and NFL Draft pick while Kerrigan was a second-team selection. Both were drafted by the Washington Redskins.
In addition to his work with sfgate.com, Joe has written articles for College Football News, Fox Sports and SB Nation. He currently covers the North Carolina Tar Heels for SFGATE and can be found on Twitter @Joe_Ferguson.
Bruce Smith still holds the record for most sacks. Bruce Smith has been completely comfortable the entire time, smoking a celebration cigar. Nobody can match Smith's career sack total of 200. He's still the career sack leader, with Reggie White only two sacks behind him.
Smith had 12.5 sacks in his first season with the Bears in 1979. That's when I started watching football games regularly. The Bears went 11-5 and made the playoffs that year. They lost to the 49ers in the first round.
The next season, Chicago won the NFL Championship after Smith recorded five sacks in a single game against the New York Giants. He is still the only player ever to score a touchdown and earn a striping action during the same play. The ball was recovered by teammate Dave Duerson who returned it for a 6-yard gain.
After eight seasons with the Bears, Bruce Smith was traded to the Eagles where he finished out his career. He left Chicago as the all-time leading sack artist with 23.5 sacks. Reggie White is second with 20.5 sacks.
With his retirement, Smith has a chance to be the first player in history to have more than 20 sacks in a season. If he records 10 or more sacks this year, he'll join White as the only players with more than one 50-plus sack season.
Smith, the NFL's all-time career sack leader (200), also set an NFL record with 13 seasons with 10 or more sacks. Smith, who was committed to remaining in peak physical shape, was selected to the NFL's All-Decade Teams in both the 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack at age 44.
The list below includes the top five sack leaders in NFL history. It does not include players who played in the AFL or NFL Europe because they were not included in the official statistics tables used by the league office.
Bob Lilly (1972-81) - 27.5 sacks
Jack Lambert (1973-84) - 26 sacks
Kevin Greene (1975-87) - 25 sacks
Charles Haley (1979-90) - 24 sacks
John Randle (1981-92) - 23 sacks
Richard Seymour (1990-2001) - 22 sacks
Jason Taylor (1992-2008) - 22 sacks
Ernie Sims (1994-05) - 21 sacks
Bruce Smith (1995-2006) - 20 sacks
Owen Glenn (1997-08) - 19 sacks
Smith came into the league in 1985 as a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears. He spent his entire eight-year career with the Bears, earning three straight Pro Bowl selections at middle linebacker. He was also named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 1992.
After leaving the Bears, he started a successful advertising business with his brother. They currently have three television commercials on air at present time. One commercial features Bruce helping a child learn how to say "goodbye" for the last time before starting school while in another he shows what happens when you say "I love you" too many times. The third commercial is for a car brand and it shows Bruce trying to stop someone who has jumped out of a window of their office building.
In 2001, Smith returned to football when the Atlanta Falcons hired him to be their linebackers coach. He remained with the team for one season before moving on to other positions within the organization. In February 2003, he was promoted to senior advisor to the general manager. He continued in this role until October 30th, when he was arrested for possession of cocaine and marijuana.
Officially, Arizona State's Terrell Suggs set the NCAA single-season record in 2002 with 24 sacks. Why it's impenetrable: Insley, the NCAA's all-time receiving yardage leader, had only 574 yards as a freshman in 1996 before exploding for 4,431 yards and 30 touchdowns over the next three seasons.
Quarterbacks Who Have Been Sacked the Most in NFL History 1 in 3 mobile quarterbacks "wouldn't get sacked." 2. 4 Tony Eason — Sack Percentage: 10.17 3.3% Neil Lomax—Sack Percentage: 10.30% 4. 2 David Carr—Sack Percentage: 10.54 % 5. 1 Greg Landry — Sack Percentage: 12.1%
Taylor is the all-time sack leader for the Dolphins and one of the all-time great pass rushers. His 139.5 career sacks rank seventh in NFL history. In his outstanding career, the two-time Defensive Lineman of the Year also had 46 forced fumbles and eight interceptions. 23. Taylor was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.
He started out as a rookie free agent signing of the New York Jets. The Dolphins traded for him before their first game and immediately made him one of their biggest stars. As a Dolphin, he won two Super Bowls (1988, 1990) and was a part of three more championship teams. He was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1989 after he led the league with 14 sacks.
During his time in Miami, Taylor played on some of the most dominant defensive lines in NFL history. From 1983 to 1991, he never missed a game due to injury.
In 1992, he joined the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent and helped them win their first Super Bowl title that year. He ended up being the MVP of that game as well! He finished his career there as a two-time champion. After nine seasons with Pittsburgh, Taylor finished his career with 176 sacks.
He retired after the 1997 season but came back in 2004 as a consultant for the Dolphins. That job turned into something much bigger though as he was eventually promoted to coach defensive ends in 2009.
Copyright © 2020 - 2023 Sportsmanist Inc.
