Smith Sets All-Time Sack Record

The game was winding down when Bruce Smith took an inside rush and broke free into the backfield. The only problem was, he figured the ball was thrown just as he hit the quarterback.

It wasn’t.

With a fourth-quarter sack against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium, the Washington Redskin defensive end increased his total to 199 and became the NFL’s all-time leader.

“When they print up the football cards they won’t say ‘Sacked second to such and such,’ ” Smith said. “It was a special day.”

Smith was hugged by teammates as he walked to the sideline carrying the ball and praised by opponents such as Giant defensive end Michael Strahan, who called it “a record of longevity, a record of consistency and it epitomizes everything he does.”

And it wasn’t the only notable play for Smith on Sunday.

Earlier in the Redskins’ 20-7 victory, he sacked Giant quarterback Kerry Collins, knocking him out of the game because of a sprained ankle.

There was a delay of game penalty and the play should have been blown dead, but no one -- including Collins -- heard the whistle.

Smith said: “It wasn’t my intention to hurt Kerry, but it was my intention to knock the hell out of him.”

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Jerome Bettis’ second 100-yard game in 2 1/2 seasons moved him into ninth place in NFL history with 12,116 yards rushing.

Bettis passed former Buffalo star Thurman Thomas, who had 12,074 yards in 13 seasons. Bettis is in his 11th season, eight with Pittsburgh.

Bettis needs only five yards to pass former Steeler star Franco Harris and move into eighth place.

Harris would remain Pittsburgh’s all-time leader since Bettis had 3,091 yards with the Rams before being traded to the Steelers in 1996.

With three games remaining, Bettis has 574 yards this season -- 106 in 27 carries Sunday. It was his first 100-yard game since Oct. 13, 2002, against Cincinnati and Pittsburgh’s first this season.

Bettis’ career low was 637 yards with the Rams in 1995. He had 666 yards last season, his fewest with Pittsburgh.

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Too much “parity” in the NFL? Not according to NFL fans. According to a www.espn.com poll, fans like the NFL’s close competition. In fact, they like it even more today than they did a decade ago.

More than three-quarters (77.5%) of fans polled by ESPN said that competitive balance in the NFL is a good thing.

Sixty-two percent said that games were more evenly matched -- resulting in more exciting games -- than in the 1990s.

NFL fans seem to like starting every season believing their team has a shot at the playoffs.

Asked which sports dynasties they miss the most, 46% said they don’t miss dynasties.

Two weeks ago, 12 NFL games were decided by seven points or less, tying the all-time mark in the category.

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Dec. 7 wasn’t just Week 14 in the NFL, it also marked 62 years since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the U.S. into World War II.

New York Giant owner Wellington Mara was 25 years old on Dec. 7, 1941, and he was on the sidelines watching his team play at the Polo Grounds.

Like most Americans, Mara was aware of the war that had been raging in Europe the previous two years, but never did he think that within a year’s time he’d be fighting in it.

“At halftime, Father Benedict Dudley, who was our team chaplain, told me that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor,” Mara said. “As the afternoon went on, there was never an announcement at the stadium.

“Within two weeks I was notified that my class in the V-7 program would begin in February,” said Mara, who went on to serve with distinction in the Navy for more than three years, emerging as a lieutenant commander.

Despite the attack on Pearl Harbor, the NFL forged on. The following Sunday, George Halas’ Chicago Bears defeated the Green Bay Packers, 33-14, to win the West. And a week later, in front of only 13,341 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field -- the smallest crowd in NFL playoff history -- the Bears whipped the Giants, 37-9, to win their second NFL championship in a row.

A total of 638 NFL players fought in World War II, 355 were commissioned officers, 69 were decorated and 18 died as well as one coach and one front office worker.

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Times wire services contributed to this report.