Dr. Z's Alltime Greatest Pass Rushers

Individual sacks were kept only by each team's p.r. department when Baker racked up 23 as a rookie in 1978, but for years the Lions and the Cardinals compared Baker's sack total with his games played in their releases. He lasted six seasons with sacks outnumbering games, 84� to 83, thought to be the best anyone had done until then. "First time I ever got a sack, it was no big deal to me," he said, "until I heard the way the crowd went wild. I thought, Damn, I've got to get me some more of those."

10
COY BACON
RAMS, CHARGERS, BENGALS, REDSKINS

He was 26 when he finally caught on with George Allen's Rams, in 1968. Bacon was big for a defensive end, 6'4", 270 pounds, and given to furious pass rushes when the mood seized him. When Chuck Knox took over as coach in 1973, assistant Tom Catlin mentioned that Bacon wouldn't play the run. "He won't what?" Knox said. Bacon was traded to San Diego, and after three seasons there was shipped to Cincinnati, where he got 21� sacks in 1976.

"He's a guy I hated playing against," said former Eagles tackle Stan Walters. "If he started well, he'd give you problems. Once we were beating them badly. At the end he screamed at me, 'You ain't nothing!' I said, 'Hey, fern brain, look at the scoreboard.' "