Humphrey had a nose for the QB

Although the sack was not an official NFL statistic until after he retired, Claude Humphrey was one of the most feared pass rushers of his era. During his 13 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles, he led his team in sacks nine times and was credited with 122 career sacks.

The 6-4, 252-pound Humphrey, who was drafted by the Falcons with the third overall pick in the 1968 draft, had an immediate impact on the field when he dumped the opposing quarterback 11.5 times to earn Defensive Rookie of the Year Honors. He would go on to register 10 or more sacks five more times with the Falcons. When he was traded to the Eagles before the 1979 season, Humphrey had 94.4 career sacks, a mark that stills stands in Atlanta’s record book today.

Humphrey continued to terrorize quarterbacks while with the Eagles. In 1979 he had another 10-sack season and led the team with 31 quarterback “hurries.” In 1980, his team-high 14.5 sacks were a vital part of the Eagles run to Super Bowl XV.

Here is an “unofficial” year-by-year breakdown of Claude Humphrey’s sacks.

			Sacks
Year	Team	G	No.
1968	Atlanta	14	11.5
1969	Atlanta	14	9.5
1970	Atlanta	12	9.0
1971	Atlanta	14	12.0
1972	Atlanta	14	5.0
1973	Atlanta	14	10.0
1974	Atlanta	14	12.5
1976	Atlanta	13	15.0
1977	Atlanta	14	10.0
1978	Atlanta	4	0.0
1979	Philadelphia	16	10.0
1980	Philadelphia	16	14.5
1981	Philadelphia	13	3.0
Career Total		171	122.0