Smith, Bruce

Bruce Smith, in full Bruce Bernard Smith, (born June 18, 1963, Norfolk, Va., U.S.), American professional gridiron football defensive end who holds the National Football League (NFL) career record for quarterback sacks (200).

Smith played college football at Virginia Tech, where he was a consensus All-American and won the Outland Trophy as the best lineman in the country during his senior season. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the first overall pick of the 1985 NFL draft. Smith totaled 15 sacks in his second season, the first of 13 seasons in which he recorded at least 10 sacks. His rare combination of size (6 feet 4 inches [1.93 metres], 262 pounds [119 kg]) and quickness promptly made him one of the most difficult defensive players in the league to block: Smith was often too fast for offensive tackles and too powerful for tight ends and running backs.

In 1990 he had 19 sacks and a remarkable—for his position—101 tackles, which earned him the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. That postseason he helped the Bills win the conference championship and advance to the Super Bowl. It was the first of four consecutive Super Bowl berths for Smith and the Bills, but the team lost the game each time. Smith was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for a second time in 1996 after amassing 13.5 sacks.

After 15 seasons with the Bills in which he was named first-team All-Pro eight times and earned 11 Pro Bowl berths, he signed with the Washington Redskins in 2000. Smith spent four mostly nondescript years in Washington, the highlight of which came in 2003 when he broke Reggie White’s career sack record of 198. He then retired after the 2003 season. Smith was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009, his first year of eligibility for that honour.