Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Something I've always been curious about and never been able to figure out that maybe someone can shed some light on... Often times in I find season rushing stats by QBs from long ago well into the negatives. For example, Otto Graham had an "un-whopping" -125 yards rushing in 1946, but was well into the positives every other year of his career.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... ahOt00.htm

There are many other instances of "extreme negative yardage" by QBs from that era and probably into the 60s or 70s. My question is, before a certain year, was a QB tackled behind the LOS considered a rushing attempt for negative yardage? If so, when was the statistical rule changed in which this became a sack? To my understanding, nowadays, the QB would only be credited with negative rushing yards if he was attempting to advance the ball forward with no intention to throw and failed to reach the LOS. Otherwise it would be a sack.

thanks!

ChrisBabcock wrote:Something I've always been curious about and never been able to figure out that maybe someone can shed some light on... Often times in I find season rushing stats by QBs from long ago well into the negatives. For example, Otto Graham had an "un-whopping" -125 yards rushing in 1946, but was well into the positives every other year of his career.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... ahOt00.htm

There are many other instances of "extreme negative yardage" by QBs from that era and probably into the 60s or 70s. My question is, before a certain year, was a QB tackled behind the LOS considered a rushing attempt for negative yardage? If so, when was the statistical rule changed in which this became a sack? To my understanding, nowadays, the QB would only be credited with negative rushing yards if he was attempting to advance the ball forward with no intention to throw and failed to reach the LOS. Otherwise it would be a sack.

thanks!

1947 (in both the NFL and AAFC) was the first season sacks were not counted as rushing attempts.

1947 (in both the NFL and AAFC) was the first season sacks were not counted as rushing attempts.

aha! Thank you.

But in some cases, isn't it a judgment call from the official scorer when it is a run for lost yardage and when it is a sack? I've seen plays where it looked like he was running behind the line but moving forward and faking a pass and tackled but it was credited as a sack and other times it was not. There is a gray area there, is there not? Does the fact that some of the QB's busted running plays will get written off as sacks artificially raise their rushing average, since they don't get credited for the negative yardage on some running plays where they are caught behind the line that are instead recorded as sacks?

Rupert Patrick wrote:But in some cases, isn't it a judgment call from the official scorer when it is a run for lost yardage and when it is a sack? I've seen plays where it looked like he was running behind the line but moving forward and faking a pass and tackled but it was credited as a sack and other times it was not. There is a gray area there, is there not? Does the fact that some of the QB's busted running plays will get written off as sacks artificially raise their rushing average, since they don't get credited for the negative yardage on some running plays where they are caught behind the line that are instead recorded as sacks?

You're quite right, Rupert. When my dad was official scorer for the Packers, there were often discussions in the pressbox among dad, Art Daley or Lee Remmel, and the PA announcer about whether a play should be considered a rushing attempt by the QB or a loss while attempting to pass.

1960s era Fran Tarkenton must have driven official scorers to drink! At least in the '70s with Bobby Douglass you never doubted if he was running with the ball! Both Randall Cunningham and Douglass came about at close to 1000-yard rushing season for a QB as were ever going to get. It just won't happen in today's game, my apologies to Cam Newton

RRMarshall wrote:1960s era Fran Tarkenton must have driven official scorers to drink! At least in the '70s with Bobby Douglass you never doubted if he was running with the ball! Both Randall Cunningham and Douglass came about at close to 1000-yard rushing season for a QB as were ever going to get. It just won't happen in today's game, my apologies to Cam Newton

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... elog/2006/

Don't understand why college football still does this.