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Who Was Better: Reggie White or Bruce Smith?  

259 members have voted

  1. 1. Who Was Better: Reggie White or Bruce Smith?

    • Bruce Smith
      190
    • Reggie White
      69


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Posted
Just now, mrags said:

I have no problem with it. I don’t get offended by easily. It was his opinion. Brice was a coke head. There’s a difference 

 

We're gonna disagree on this one.  Bruce may have had his vices, but I'm not aware that he ever hurt another person by spewing racist hatred.

Posted

Everyone seems caught up on the 3-4 and 4-3 comparison. We should probably recall that White played in a Buddy Ryan 46 for the first half of his NFL career. Which means he was often inside shade of the RT. Go watch some Eagles highlights of the guy rag dolling a RT and Guard before running over a RB enroute to a sack. He’d have been a beast in a 3-4 too. 

 

Its really too close to call. Either guy could dominate in any scheme you put them in. They were both that freaky. Heck, you could probably stick either at 3-tech and they’d still come away with 10+ sacks a year. 

Posted
19 minutes ago, billsfan1959 said:

It is nothing more than guesswork: Two different players, playing in different positions, in different schemes, in entirely different circumstances. Could be that the stats are reversed if roles are reversed, or not. Two great players and a fun discussion. However, in the end, like all comparisons of great players, it just an opinion wrapped up in guesswork.

True, but one player here was quite a bit more productive than the other.

 

And that’s what we can go on.

 

 

Posted (edited)

White had an additional 23.5 sacks in his two seasons in the USFL. He initially chose the USFL for the most obvious reason: they paid him more. 

Edited by dave mcbride
Posted

I think this is one of those Brady or Montana discussions...you can argue for both.  As a Bills fan I want to say Bruce, but I also would not have any issue with someone saying Reggie.  

 

In a close race like this, if I am being unbiased, I think White gets a small edge on helping bring a SB championship home where as Bruce's team came up short, and in 3 of those 4 SB losses the defense really got outclassed by the opposing offense.  

Posted
Just now, Jay_Fixit said:

True, but one player here was quite a bit more productive than the other.

 

And that’s what we can go on.

 

 

Production is often the benchmark we use; however, production comparisons of two athletes under completely different variables doesn't necessarily provide any meaningful insight as to which one was truly the better player. It just means one athlete was more productive within his/her set of variables than the other athlete was within his/her unique set of variables.

Posted

In todays NFL you see teams valuing the RT position more than in years past. Surely more than in the era when Bruce & Reggie played. Offenses back then put their best tackle in the LT spot. If its the premiere position on the OLine today, it was even more so back then.

 

When you factor in Bruce playing in a 3-4 & going against the best tackles week in & week out, it really is impressive seeing how dominant Bruce was.

Its a close call & both are legendary players, but when you compare the 2, you absolutely need to compare their competition & schemes. Reggie had it better on both those fronts imo.

Posted
2 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

 

Yeah that’s interesting.  He only played in a 3-4 his entire career

 

Ok well like I admitted, basing this on one incident was flawed.  But overall, it didn’t  change my belief that Reggie was better

 

2 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

 

Yeah that’s interesting.  He only played in a 3-4 his entire career

 

Ok well like I admitted, basing this on one incident was flawed.  But overall, it didn’t  change my belief that Reggie was better

You just said one game changed your mind not you say it wasn't just one incident that changed your mind. Which one was it? Or are you going to keep going back and forth changing your mind?

Posted
3 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

For the longest time there has been a debate with my friends about who the greatest Defensive End was during the time we started watching football in the late 80’s and into the 90’s.

 

Back then we thought we had the best DE in the NFL in Bruce Smith.  Others considered Reggie White, from Philly, at the time to be the best. 

 

Now that we have the benefit of hindsight, the question is...who was really better?

 

Statistically there really isn’t much difference.  Reggie played 15 seasons with 198 sacks.  Bruce played 17 with 200 sacks.  Of course, Bruce is the all-time leader.   Both men should be considered toward as the best DE’s ever.

 

I hate to say it, but I’m going to give the edge to Reggie.  I think he was a much better leader and impacted the game more than Bruce did.  

 

For many years, I would argue in favor Bruce but one game made me change my mind.  What sealed the deal for me was in a 1996 playoff game.  Bruce had the flu and was questionable to play.  This happens quite a bit in the NFL and players usually play through sickness.  So I was really shocked when he missed the game.  Pittsburgh scored 40 points so the team definitely could’ve used Bruce.

 

I immediately thought of the Thanksgiving game against Dallas where Reggie played with a severely injured arm.  He should have missed several weeks but he played through it.  Thinking of that made me say “It’s official, Reggie is better.”  

 

 As an adult, I can see the flawed logic there, but forgetting that incident, it doesn’t change my answer.  Bruce was fantastic, but I think Reggie was the greatest of all-time.

 

That REALLY confused me as they lost to the Jags in 1996. Either you meant 95, or the Pit game went into the 96 calander. Took me a sec

Posted

The question was who was better, not who do you like better. Being a Bills fan has nothing to do with it. Reggie. He played both end and tackle as well as anyone ever has. They were both the best player of their time as were LT and maybe even Derrick Thomas.

  • Like (+1) 1
Posted
1 hour ago, mrags said:

I have no problem with it. I don’t get offended by easily. It was his opinion. Brice was a coke head. There’s a difference 

Seems like you're easily offended by drug use.

  • Like (+1) 1
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

For longevity, Bruce is better. He’s still alive.

 

WINNING!

 

A terribly offensive and disrespectful comment

2 hours ago, Bray Wyatt said:

Deacon Jones

 

He has nowhere near the numbers that Bruce or Reggie do

2 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

 

Um... Reggie White is dead.

 

I dont appreciate using someone’s death as humor

Edited by Phil The Thrill
Posted
3 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

For the longest time there has been a debate with my friends about who the greatest Defensive End was during the time we started watching football in the late 80’s and into the 90’s.

 

Back then we thought we had the best DE in the NFL in Bruce Smith.  Others considered Reggie White, from Philly, at the time to be the best. 

 

Now that we have the benefit of hindsight, the question is...who was really better?

 

Statistically there really isn’t much difference.  Reggie played 15 seasons with 198 sacks.  Bruce played 17 with 200 sacks.  Of course, Bruce is the all-time leader.   Both men should be considered toward as the best DE’s ever.

 

I hate to say it, but I’m going to give the edge to Reggie.  I think he was a much better leader and impacted the game more than Bruce did.  

 

For many years, I would argue in favor Bruce but one game made me change my mind.  What sealed the deal for me was in a 1996 playoff game.  Bruce had the flu and was questionable to play.  This happens quite a bit in the NFL and players usually play through sickness.  So I was really shocked when he missed the game.  Pittsburgh scored 40 points so the team definitely could’ve used Bruce.

 

I immediately thought of the Thanksgiving game against Dallas where Reggie played with a severely injured arm.  He should have missed several weeks but he played through it.  Thinking of that made me say “It’s official, Reggie is better.”  

 

 As an adult, I can see the flawed logic there, but forgetting that incident, it doesn’t change my answer.  Bruce was fantastic, but I think Reggie was the greatest of all-time.

 

Bruce played 19 years not 17. Bruce had only 2 more sacks in 4 more seasons played. I agree that Reggie was the better of the two and the greatest of all time. They are definitely the top 2 though. 

Posted
3 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

 

A terribly offensive and disrespectful comment

 

He has nowhere near the numbers that Bruce or Reggie do

 

 173.5 sacks in 191 games, how is that nowhere near?

Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

I dont appreciate using someone’s death as humor

 

Um, what?  I wasn't using it as humor.  The poster proposed an arm wrestling match...

 

Also you should chill.  The world isn't going to calibrate itself to your sensitivity level.

Edited by Coach Tuesday
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