Al "Bubba" Baker's 1978 Season

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

Credit:  Chuck Ren

Michael Strahan's 22.5 sacks in 2001 is the official NFL single-season record for sacks. However, the unofficial record is still Al "Bubba" Baker's 1978 season when he had 23 sacks in 16 games. Sacks became official in 1982 but were recorded in gamebooks prior to that. It's the same source that is used now.

We still believe the 14-game record is 22 by Deacon Jones in 1964 and 1968 followed closely by 21½ for Coy Bacon in 1976 when he was with the Bengals. We will leave the 12-game record for another time. So, here are Baker's game-by-game totals for 1978:

So, there will be a time in the near future when someone challenges Strahan's official record, we shouldn't forget real data from real players, even if it is not "official".