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Learn about Bruce Smith, the former NFL defensive end who played for the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins, and holds the record for most career sacks with 200. Find out his college and professional achievements, awards, statistics, and personal life.
Checkout the latest stats for Bruce Smith. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com.
- June 18, 1963
- Growing Up in Virginia
- Smith Becomes A Hokie
- 1984
- The 1985 NFL Draft
- Buffalo Gains Momentum
- Breakthrough
- Super Bowl XXV
- 1991
- Super Bowl XXVII
- Super Bowl XXVIII
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
Bruce Bernard Smith was born on June 18, 1963, in Norfolk, Virginia. Growing up, Smith and his friends played Little League baseball as well as basketball. Despite the fact that he enjoyed playing sports, Smith almost derailed his future before it even started. He attended Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk and went out for football. After...
Sorting through the many college scholarship offers during his senior year, Smith chose to stay in his home state and attend Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. He joined a Tech team that had gone 8-4 in 1980 and lost in the Peach Bowl to the Miami Hurricanes. During Smith’s freshman year in 1981, the Hokies went 7-4 and had the same record in 1...
Smith’s junior year turned out to be a foreshadowing of his senior year. Virginia Tech produced an 8-4 record in 1984 that got the team invited to a bowl. Part of the reason for the invite was the play of Smith. That season, he was part of a Hokies defense that limited opposing rushers to 71.5 yards per game, good for second in the country. Smith c...
In 1980 and 1981, the Buffalo Bills went to the playoffs both years. The team advanced to the Divisional round in ’81 before losing to the Cincinnati Bengals by a touchdown. For the next three years, the best the team could do was win eight games in 1983. The Bills’ management wanted to turn around the fortunes of the franchise, and they beat the b...
Levy was retained as the head coach beginning in 1987 and began to oversee a blossoming of talent. By then, Smith was already one of the best defensive linemen in the game, having been moved to defensive end after arriving in Buffalo. Admittedly, he had poor work habits as a rookie that still led to 6.5 sacks and 48 tackles. Smith started training ...
In 1988, Smith was suspended for four games by Buffalo for substance abuse. It was the second time he had tested positive for a banned substance, leading to the NFL’s mandated suspension. The following spring, Smith was a free agent, and the Bills briefly considered trading him to the Denver Broncos. He had turned himself into a great player, but t...
For the first time in franchise history, the Bills were playing in the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XXV was a patriotic affair as the country was involved in the Gulf War in the Middle East. Jets flew overhead, Whitney Houston sang the national anthem, and the nation prepared for a battle in Tampa, Florida. Buffalo was facing the New York Giants who had ...
Before the 1991 season, Smith was featured on the cover of Sports Illustratedwith the title “Bruce is Loose.” The feature article talked about Smith’s preparation for 1991 and his intention of helping Buffalo win the Super Bowl. In reference to his bold prediction, teammate Thurman Thomas backed Smith. Chuck Dickerson, Buffalo’s defensive line coac...
The 1992 season was much better for Smith. Now fully healed, he returned to the Pro Bowl after making 89 tackles and 14 sacks. Buffalo took an 11-5 regular season into the playoffs and faced the Houston Oilers in the Wild Card round. Early in the third quarter, the Oilers were crushing the home team Bills 35-3. Left for dead, Buffalo went on a furi...
The 1993 Bills weren’t backing down from anyone. Despite the general feeling across the country that anyone but Buffalo needed to represent the AFC in the next Super Bowl, the Bills and their fans heartily disagreed. Instead, the team went 12-4 in 1993 on the strength of a seventh-ranked offense and fifth-ranked defense. Smith once again had 14 sac...
Learn about the life and career of Bruce Smith, who played 19 years in the NFL and became the league's all-time leader in sacks. From his college days at Virginia Tech to his Super Bowl appearances with the Bills, Smith was a dominant defensive end who overcame adversity and set records.
Bruce Smith played 19 seasons in the NFL, mostly with the Buffalo Bills, and holds the record for most career sacks (200). He was a nine-time All-Pro, four-time AFC Defensive Player of the Year, and a key member of the Bills' Super Bowl teams.
Find complete career NFL stats for Bruce Smith, a defensive end who played for the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins from 1985 to 2003. See his solo, sack, fumble and interception totals for each season.
Aug 20, 2021 · Whether rushing the passer or stuffing the run, Bruce Smith commanded and earned respect as the Bills' best player of all time.
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Bruce Smith was the NFL's all-time sack leader with 200 and the Bills' all-time sack leader with 171. He played 15 seasons in Buffalo and won two NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards.
