Vanderbilt Quarterback Jay Cutler is sacked by U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman 2nd Class Jeremy Chase.

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 eligible receiver including Running Backs and Tight Ends who can catch the ball, allowing the defense a longer opportunity to tackle the quarterback. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 726 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2100 × 1735 pixel, file size: 566 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 726 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2100 × 1735 pixel, file size: 566 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Vanderbilt University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university in Nashville, Tennessee. ... Teamwork: Fourth Class Midshipmen lock arms and use ropes made from uniform items as they brace themselves climbing the Herndon Monument The United States Naval Academy, or USNA, is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. ... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... Diagram of a Canadian football field. ... Navy quarterback Aaron Polanco sets up to throw. ... Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown from one player to another on the same team, ending closer to the opponents goal line. ... The defensive team or defense in American football or Canadian football, is the team that begins a play from scrimmage not in possession of the ball. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In American football, blocking occurs when one player obstructs another players path with his body. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into American football positions. ... The wide receiver (WR) position in American and Canadian football is the pass-catching specialist. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The tight end (TE) is a position in American football on the offensive team. ...

Yardage

In the NFL, yards lost on the play are added as negative yardage to the team's passing totals; however, the quarterback's individual passing total remains unchanged. Before that change in record keeping, tackling a player behind the line of scrimmage resulted in a loss from that player's (passing) statistics, even if it were fairly obvious a rush play had been intended. NCAA continues to subtract sack yardage from individual rushing totals. NFL redirects here. ... A college football game between Colorado State and Air Force. ...

Rules

To be considered a sack the quarterback must intend to throw a forward pass. If the play is designed for the quarterback to rush the ball, any loss is subtracted from the quarterback's rushing total. If the quarterback's intent is not obvious statisticians use certain criteria, such as the offensive line blocking scheme, to decide. Other unique situations where a loss reduces a quarterback's rushing total (not a sack) are "kneel downs" (used to run time off the game clock), and aborted plays, such as a fumbled snap that the quarterback falls on to maintain possession. Navy quarterback Aaron Polanco sets up to throw. ... In American football, rushing has two different meanings. ... Navy quarterback Aaron Polanco sets up to throw. ...

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

Term

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.^[1] NFL redirects here. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...

Origin

"Quarterback sack" was first coined by hall of fame defensive end Deacon Jones. ^[2] He felt that a sack devastated the offense in the same way that a city was devastated when it was sacked.^[3] The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of the National Football League (NFL). ... David D. Deacon Jones (born December 9, 1938) nicknamed Secretary of Defense is an American athlete and actor. ...

See also

• The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game - non-fiction book by Michael Lewis

For the book by Chuck Palahniuk titled Non-fiction, see Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories. ... Michael Lewis (born 1960, New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American contemporary non-fiction author. ...

References

External links

• Sack Story, an article describing the controversy over the sack record