Category profile
- Dominance
- 84
- Peak
- 88
- Longevity
- 92
- Honours
- 82
- Statistics
- 94
Career timeline · Touchdowns per season
| Season | Touchdowns per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 6.5 | |
| 1986 | 15 | |
| 1987 | 12 | |
| 1988 | 11 | |
| 1989 | 13 | |
| 1990 | 19 | |
| 1991 | 1.5 | |
| 1992 | 14 | |
| 1993 | 14 | |
| 1994 | 10 | |
| 1995 | 10.5 | |
| 1996 | 13.5 | |
| 1997 | 14 | |
| 1998 | 10 | |
| 1999 | 7 | |
| 2000 | 10 | |
| 2001 | 5 | |
| 2002 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 1 |
Data sources
- NFL
- Pro Football Reference
- Olympics.com
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Bruce Smith ranks #8 in American Football
Bruce Smith ranks 8th among American Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 323rd of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 87.5 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 84, Peak 88, Longevity 92, Honours 82, Statistics 94. Those categories are normalised against the full American Football reference universe of 378 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1985–2003 with 19 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1990, which sets the Peak component at 88. Statistics is the defining strength of the profile at 94 out of 100, and it carries 15% of the final score. The underlying career record includes career sacks 200, defensive player of the year 2, pro bowls 11, all-pro first teams 8.
Immediately ahead sits Reggie White on 88.5, a gap of 1.0 points. Directly behind is Aaron Donald on 89.1. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Bruce Smith GOAT Score explained
- Dominance84/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Smith stood above the field while competing. Scored 84/100 against the full American Football cohort.
- Peak88/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1990. Scored 88/100.
- Longevity92/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 18 years of competition and 19 recorded seasons. Scored 92/100.
- Honours82/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 82/100.
- Statistics94/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 94/100.
Top Smith comparisons
Bruce Smith — frequently asked
- Is Bruce Smith the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Bruce Smith ranks 8th in American Football with a GOAT Score of 87.5, behind Tom Brady on 97.2.
- What is Bruce Smith's GOAT Score?
- 87.5 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 84 (25%), Peak 88 (20%), Longevity 92 (20%), Honours 82 (20%), Statistics 94 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Bruce Smith rank all time?
- 323rd of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 8th within American Football.
- Bruce Smith vs Reggie White: who ranks higher?
- Reggie White, on 88.5 against Bruce Smith's 87.5 — a margin of 1.0 points.