Quarterback sack

In American football and Canadian football, a quarterback sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass. This often occurs if the opposing team's defensive line or linebackers are able to quickly get past blocking players of the offensive team, the quarterback's protection; or if the quarterback is unable to find, in a reasonable amount of time, an available receiver who can catch the ball, allowing the defense a longer opportunity to tackle the quarterback.

Related Topics:
American football - Canadian football - Quarterback - Line of scrimmage - Defensive line - Linebacker - Offensive team

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In the NFL, yards lost on the play are added as negative yardage to the team's passing totals; the quarterback's individual passing total remains unchanged. Before that change in records-keeping was made, the tackling of a player behind the line of scrimmage resulted in a loss from that player's rushing (running) statistics, even if it was fairly obvious a pass play was intended. NCAA college football continues to subtract sack yardage from individual rushing totals.

Related Topics:
NFL - College football

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A player will receive credit for half of a sack when multiple players contribute to the sacking of a quarterback.

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The term "sack" was not widely used before ca. 1970; previously one would simply refer to a player's being tackled behind the line (of scrimmage), in so many words. The NFL only began to keep track of sacks in 1982.http://www.nfl.com/history/randf/records/indiv/sacks

Related Topics:
NFL - 1982

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"Quarterback sack" was first invented by hall of fame defensive end Deacon Jones http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=108 who said that tackling the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage was like tying him up inside a big sack (as when one "bags" a hunted animal).

Related Topics:
Hall of fame - Deacon Jones

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