I had the good fortune of going to Virginia Tech the same 4 years that Bruce Smith was there. He won the Outland Trophy. Met him in the Dining Halls too. Super nice man.
Cool. I graduated in ‘85 as well. He helped me carry my groceries from Radford Brothers, and then he loaded them into the trunk of my car. I remember his friendliness, and that his arms were like oak trees.
What amazed me about Bruce is that his great speed gave him so many wide-open blind-side shots at QBs. Yet he was always clean. Never took the cheap shot. Never an intent to injure. One of the greats. BRUUUUUUUUUUUCE!!!
Amazing to watch after all these years....there really aren't true def lineman in today's game that can dominate like Bruce and Reggie White did back then.
Bruce Smith is the best DE of all time. Out of all the best DE in NFL history Bruce is the only one to play most of his career in a 3-4 defensive scheme. Reggie White, Lee Roy Selmon, Richard Dent, Michael Strahan, Julius Peppers, Deacon Jones, Gino Marchetti, Doug Atkins, Carl Eller, Jim Marshall.....all the best ones I can think of played their whole careers in a 4-3 scheme. 3-4 ends typically never put up big sack numbers but Bruce has more recorded sacks than anyone in NFL history. And also he has more tackles than any other D-Lineman in NFL history.....which means he was just as dominant against the run as he was rushing the QB
Lee Roy Selmon played his entire career as a 3-4 DE with the exception of his rookie year with the famous 1976 Buccaneers. Selmon is considered the prototype DE for a 3-4 defense because Bruce Smith was physically a freak of nature when he dominated the AFC during his playing days
Alan Page played with Jim Marshall and Carl Eller on the Purple People Eaters. He won league MVP at defensive tackle. Only other defensive player besides than LT to win MVP. They never talk about him very much, only Aaron Donald, Warren Sapp, Randy White, etc.
This man is the reason I'm a Bill's fan. Been a Bill's fan since the 4th grade and never looked back. I hope he's there when we win our Superbowl. And God damnit I think it's coming soon. BILLS MAFIA FOR LIFE!!!
Not shown is the near sack of Randall Cunningham in the endzone in the Philly game. Randall somehow escaped Bruce's grasp and threw a 94 yard TD strike. I was there for the 1990 season, had season tickets then, so mine is one of the voices yelling "Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!"
Some have said that when Bruce Smith sacked Jeff George for the 4th time that afternoon in Indy, he shouted a loud *"OH, SHIT!"* that could be heard throughout the Hoosier Dome!
The fans were so much louder back then - I think losing 9,000 seats to luxury suites has a lot to do with that. It's a shame... Buffalo used to have the biggest home field advantage due to crowd noise -- along with the weather too of course.
Nick Jasper I said the same thing that stadium was so intimidating to play in all these new stadiums are the same now rich stadium has character and tradition let's keep it
TV hides a lot of Smith’s size and strength. I seen him in person at games. Amazing size and muscle. His arms were as large as my legs. He had to scare most QB to see he was lined up on the other side.
Da Bruce best ever stopped run and pass rusher instead just non run stop res today, he's power and quick, 1 bad thing from me ex Miami fan watch Bruce W Marino quick release and best pass blocker all time Richmond Webb, netrailed Bruce. But of course everyone else but Bruce had awsome games against Miami everybody else was nightmare.
An all time great. So many times it's like he's in the backfield before the lineman has even twitched. So many offensive plays are just totally d.o.a because of him
I always thought one of the most underrated plays in NFL history was Hostettler SOMEHOW holding on to that ball in the endzone for a safety instead of a TD.
The crazy thing to think of was that Reggie White was playing during this same era. Imagine being an offense having to deal with Bruce lining up in the RE spot, with Reggie lining up in the LE spot.
His bag o tricks was deep and varied. His Monster Walk was not a cliche. Bruce Smith, baaaad bad man. Mr. Cornfed Offensive Lineman, you wanna drag THAT up and down the field all day?
Oh I disagree with ya there. He helped a lot of qbs up. He cared very much for other players on the other side of him! I was in my 30s when he played. Not only was he a monster that everyone feared durring the play, But he was a class act after.
He should have shattered the single season sack that year. By at least 6-7.. had a bunch early. Then last part of the season.. didn’t get any.. till super bowl..
Dude is underrated. Outstanding in every aspect of football. Conditioning, work ethic, intensity, tenacity, practice habits. I think the dude could cover if asked to.
