Bruce Smith attended Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills as the number one draft pick overall in the 1985 NFL Draft. Smith became known as a sack specialist with 15 in 1986 and a personal season best 19 in 1990. By 1989, Smith had already become the Bills' all-time sack leader when he reached his 52nd sack. In 1990, his defensive performance helped bring the Bills to Super Bowl XXV, but they eventually lost to the Bill Parcells-led New York Giants. In 1991, Smith was hampered by knee problems and sat out most of the season. And while Smith would continue to be productive for many more seasons, it was ongoing knee troubles that eventually led to his decline several seasons later.

During these years, Smith continued to be named to the Pro Bowl in every season from 1987 to 1998 (except for his injury-laden 1991 season). In 1987, he was named the Pro Bowl MVP. Smith was twice named the AP's NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1990, 1996) and thrice named UPI's AFC Defensive Player of the Year (1988, 1990, 1996).

By 1996, Smith was still putting up prolific numbers, with 90 tackles and 14 sacks, but his performance began to decline. By 1997, Smith had 65 tackles and 14 sacks and by 1998, he had a still-respectable 50 tackles and 10 sacks, but his days of huge numbers had passed.

After the 1999 season, Smith signed with the Washington Redskins as a free agent. In his first season, he posted 58 tackles and 10 sacks, but his production waned and he became limited to only a handful of downs per game. He pressed onward, however, in pursuit of Reggie White's all-time sacks record (198), which he finally passed in the thirteenth game of his nineteenth season in 2003. Smith finished the season with 200 career sacks.

Smith had hinted in interviews that 2003 would be his final season. However he never completely ruled out continuing to play. But on February 24, 2004 the Redskins released Smith, saving $6.5 million in salary cap space.[1]

External links

• NFL.com: Bruce Smith