quarterback Riley Nelson being sacked by
Air Force. The term
sack was first popularized in the 1960s by
Hall of Fame defensive end
Deacon Jones, who felt that a quarterback being sacked devastated the offense in the same way that
a city was devastated when it was sacked. In 1999, Jones provided a
Los Angeles Times reporter with some other detailed imagery about his forte: "You take all the offensive linemen and put them in a
burlap bag, and then you take a baseball bat and beat on the bag. You're sacking them, you're bagging them. And that’s what you're doing with a quarterback." According to former NFL coach
Marv Levy,
Washington Redskins coach
George Allen may have coined the term when referring to
Dallas Cowboys quarterback
Craig Morton when he purportedly stated before a game, "Before we play those Dallas Cowboys, we’re going to take that Morton salt and pour him into a sack." Prior to
sack, the term
dump was often used, as the NFL's statistical office recorded all sacks under "dumping the passer". The NFL only began to keep track of times passers lost yardage in 1961 and no credit was given to the defensive player responsible until 1982. Researcher John Turney of the
Pro Football Researchers Association estimated that Jones recorded 173½ sacks in his career. Controversial NFL rule changes made for the
2018 season prohibit tacklers from landing on the quarterback after making a sack, with the punishment being a
roughing the passer penalty. ==Pass pressure==