Pro Football Reference updates sack numbers, shuffles Steelers Top 5

Thanks to decades of research by John Turney and Nick Webster, we have updated our site to add sack data all the way back to 1960, 20 years before it became an officially recorded statistic

Check out our blog to learn more about this amazing new update https://t.co/CuvMtx7ReT pic.twitter.com/BLgybiu8R5

— ProFootballReference (@pfref) July 12, 2021

No site does stats better than Pro Football Reference. And their latest update was absolutely tremendous. Sacks weren’t counted as an official stat prior to 1982 but PFR has gone all the way back to 1960 and done the work to give reference to the great pass rushers of that era.

This is especially interesting to the Pittsburgh Steelers because two of their best pass rushers of all time finally get the credit they deserve. Two members of the Steeler Curtain defense of the 1970s, defensive end L.C. Greenwood and defensive tackle Joe Greene both cracked the Top 5 in career sacks with this update.

Here’s how the new Top 5 shakes out.

James Harrison – 80.5

LC Greenwood – 78.0

Joe Greene – 77.5

Jason Gildon – 77.0

Joey Porter – 60.0

This update also put defensive end Dwight White, also from those 70s teams in at No. 9 with 55 career sacks.