Fred Smerlas—A Truly Elite Nose Tackle

By John Turney 

Many football fans, especially younger ones, have forgotten what a dominant football player Buffalo Bills' nose tackle Fred Smerlas was -- possibly because he played a position that doesn't leave a statistical trail.

And that's a shame.

Skills players have their numbers -- rushing, receiving, passing -- and certain defensive positions have theirs -- tackles, sacks, interceptions, etc. But nose tackles? Not so much.

So where does that leave Fred Smerlas when it comes to Hall-of-Fame discussions? Out in the cold that's where. And that's not fair. The 14-year pro and Boston College grad deserves better.

He deserves to have his case heard.

If that happened, it couldn't help but impress voters, especially those who didn't see him play or weren't there for the two-gap, 3-4 era in the NFL. Because when it comes to players considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, everything needs to be examined; not just the so-called "numbers."

"How do you vote for a player whose position is not judged by numbers?" asked former NFL player, executive and broadcaster Matt Millen. "How do you vote for a player who’s great at their job but isn’t supported by statistics?"

Good question. But with Smerlas, it isn't just recommended. It's required ... because of the position he played.

"The nose-tackle conversation can be tricky," said former NFL executive and broadcaster Mike Mayock, "due to the nature of the position. Unlike quarterbacks or running backs, there are few statistics available to quantify the greatness of a player."

Mayock and Millen each answered their own questions by suggesting that voters ... or fans ... look beyond the usual measurements and judge how effective a player was at his job. So let's start with the obvious question: What does a nose tackle do?

More than the casual viewer can know, answered Mayock.

"How many snaps was Fred asked to 'two-gap' (occupy the gap on either side of alignment) so that Jim Haslett or Shane Nelson could make the tackle?" he said. "I can't give you an answer. But I can vouch for the obligations of that position. The majority of snaps demand the 3-4 nose tackle occupy both gaps so that the inside linebackers are unencumbered to the ball."

Millen should know. He played linebacker at Penn State and again in a 12-year career in the pros.

"How do you know the difference between single-gap schemes and two-gap schemes?" he said. "They look the same to the viewer. So, how do you judge a nose tackle? It takes a lot of study."

That era was roughly from the mid-1970s through the early 1990s. If a team ran a 3-4 defense then, it had its linemen play the two-gap technique. Today's 3-4 teams don't ... at least not consistently. With the emphasis on the passing game and nickel defenses, nose tackles don't get a lot of snaps. And, when they do, they're not two-gapping. 

Why? Two-gapping is just too big an ask. It requires an ability to knock offensive linemen backward while reading the flow of a play.

That's not to say teams never two-gap in today's game. They do. But not on every down as Smerlas and others did in the pure 3-4 days. Nose tackles then stood apart because of what they were asked, and nobody stood apart more than Smerlas.

He was the best of his era.

To this day, no pure nose tackle went to more Pro Bowls (five) or was All-Pro (four) more often, with Smerlas making Pro Football Weekly's All-Pro team from 1980-82 and the players' All-Pro team, the NEA, in 1983.  

Furthermore, in 1980 he finished tied for second behind Oakland's Lester Hayes in balloting for the UPI AFC Defensive Player of the Year and even garnered a few votes in the AP NFL Defensive Player-of-the-Year voting.

"I never saw the guy have a bad game," said Hall-of-Fame center Dwight Stephenson. "As a nose tackle, Fred played the position better than anyone in the NFL. He did his job -- keeping his linebackers free and tying up a couple of men in the middle, He was a load. He was the best. A tough, tough player."

Smerlas was also durable -- starting 149 straight games in the middle of the Bills' defense -- and missed games in only two of his 14 seasons, his rookie year when he missed the final three and in his 12th season. 

Buffalo's strength and conditioning coach, Rusty Jones, didn't think that was an accident. He maintains that Smerlas was physically different than most nose tackles. Sure, he was big, 6-feet-3 and 290 or so pounds, but there was more to it than size, Jones said.

"Fred’s quickness and longevity were a tribute to his body fat fitness," he said. "Fred’s was rare ... hovering around 10 percent. Just as a comparison, many nose tackles are much bigger -- weighing in excess of 320 pounds with 20 percent and up body fat -- and they have much shorter NFL careers."

It was also attributed to his will.

"Fred was a warrior!" said Ted Cottrell, one of his coaches."He was double-teamed on just about every play (that) he was out on the field. He hardly ever missed a game due to injury. He would play through pain ... He was a man’s man!"

Smerlas was the front point of the so-called "Bermuda Triangle’ -- the nickname for the trio consisting of him and inside linebackers Shane Nelson and Jim Haslett -- that stood in the middle of the Bills' defense.

"He is the key to the Bills’ 3-4 defense," said Pro Football Weekly's personnel guru, Joel Buchsbaum "He's super-strong with great intensity and good initial quickness."

But what set Smerlas apart was that he was more than a quick and strong nose tackle. He wanted to re-invent the position and take it a step farther than others who played it.

"The nose tackie job is what you make of it," he said. "If you're content with controlling the line, that’s what you're going to have. But I also try to get around and make tackles.

"I like the feeling of doing a good job and self-accomplishment. When you come in on Mondays and see the films, you want them to be enjoyable."

They usually were, not only by his coaches and teammates; but by opponents and his peers.

"I went to see guys in the Pro Bowl," he said, "who came up and said, 'Coaches gave us your film to teach us how to play two-gap and said, It's kind of a lost art now.' And, so, to me that was the biggest compliment you can get."

When Smerlas entered the league, he played nose tackle in a more aggressive way than others -- attacking the center rather than "catching blocks". It was so unique that opposing coaches traveled in the offseason to Orchard Park to watch extra footage of Smerlas to see how it was done. 

Nose tackles rarely were part of an opponent's game plan. But Fred Smerlas was.

"When making up the game plan against the Bills," former Cincinnati offensive line coach Jim McNally said, "the first question we always had was: How are we going to block Fred? On pass plays, he was double-teamed the majority of times. When one-on-one with the center or guard, Fred won the battle. So he had to be double-teamed.

"(Fred) was a full-speed, aggressive, tough tackle he was relentless. His motor never stopped."

Unfortunately, the momentum for Smerlas stopped there. He's never been discussed as a Hall-of-Fame finalist and never been chosen a semifinalist, either as a modern-era or seniors' nominee, and that must change. There's just too much non-statistical information for his case to be ignored.

He was a strong guy (bench pressed 465 pounds) whom Stephenson -- whom some consider the best center ever -- identified as the greatest nose tackle. But he was also the most honored pure nose tackle ever in terms of postseason recognition -- All-Pros and Pro Bowls.

Mike Giddings Sr., founder of Proscout, Inc., rated him so highly that he scored him superior vs. the run and compared his pass-rush moves to Hall-of-Fame defensive tackle Alex Karras. But Giddings was just one of Smerlas' long line of admirers.

"Fred was a powerful, disciplined, productive nose tackle on good Bills' defenses," said Millen. "The scheme they ran was keyed by a thankless position- the nose. It’s a sacrificial position -- and he was great at it."

Hopefully, the Hall's seniors committee will agree and review the evidence. Then, maybe, just maybe, it will present one of the absolute best pure 3-4 nose tackles for admission to Canton.