Chiefs’ top 10 sack leaders have changed thanks to addition of pre-1982 sacks
The Kansas City Chiefs have a new unofficial list of sack leaders thanks to the folks over at Pro Football Reference.
The sack didn’t become an official NFL stat until the 1982 season and the league has only officially counted sacks from that point onward. The current leaderboards of sack leaders that you’ve probably seen for the Chiefs on Pro Football Reference and elsewhere have been incomplete. That is, of course, until now.
The folks at PFR have worked tirelessly to compile sacks between 1960 and 1981. They’ve created a new unofficial leaderboard for the NFL career leaders, single-season leaders and leaders of individual teams. A few things have changed for the Chiefs’ career leaders because of the addition of pre-1982 sacks. Namely, some of the great pass-rushers from the earliest moments in franchise history have moved up to take their rightful place in the leaderboards.
Below you can find a look at both the official totals and unofficial totals for the top 10 career leaders for the Chiefs via PFR:
Official totals (without pre-1982 sacks)
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Rank | Sacks | Player |
1. | 126.5 | Derrick Thomas |
2. | 89.5 | Tamba Hali |
3. | 85.5 | Neil Smith |
4. | 78.5 | Justin Houston |
5. | 44.5 | Eric Hicks |
6. | 43.0 | Jared Allen |
7. | 42.5 | Art Still |
8. | 40.5 | |
9. | 40.0 | Mike Bell |
10. | 40.0 | Bill Maas |
Observations:
The Chiefs have one active player (Chris Jones) listed on the official totals.
A few players (Art Still and Mike Bell) played on the bubble between sacks being listed as an official stat.
Unofficial totals (with pre-1982 sacks)
Rod Hanna-USA TODAY Sports
Rank | Sacks | Player |
1. | 126.5 | Derrick Thomas |
2. | 89.5 | Tamba Hali |
3. | 85.5 | Neil Smith |
4. | 78.5 | Justin Houston |
5. | 74.0 | Art Still |
6. | 70.5 | Buck Buchanan |
7. | 65.5 | Jerry Mays |
8. | 52.0 | Mike Bell |
9. | 51.0 | Aaron Brown |
10. | 44.5 | Eric Hicks |
Observations:
The top 4 players remain unchanged in the unofficial rankings.
Jared Allen, Chris Jones and Bill Maas drop out of the top 10 leaderboards with the addition of pre-1982 sacks.
Three players from the Super Bowl LV team (Buck Buchanan, Jerry Mays and Aaron Brown) all have moved into the top 10 leaderboards.
Art Still gained 31.5 sacks and Mike Bell gained 12.0 sacks against their official totals.
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