Reggie White OR Bruce Smith?

[alan]

Yo, my fellow Pack fans, I was having an argument with my dad, A Bills fan, about who was better. He claims Bruuuuuuce, and i say the Minister of Defense. Anyways, came across this article that had both sides of the story, and must say i am somewhat split now.
Your thoughts?
http://gamedaysportsblog.com/2015/12/10/reggie-white-or-bruce-smith/

I mean, i still got White, but he makes a decent argument.

 

[RRyder]

I'll take White considering I rate him as the best DE of all time. Dominate against both the run and pass and his sack numbers would've been even better if he hadn't started in the USFL.

Nothing wrong with comming in second to White. Bruce even while they were playing I always considered 2nd best to Reggie

 

[Un4GivN]

This is the Tom Brady vs Joe Montana fight or Favre vs Rodgers

There is no "right" answer... Fun to debate and for my money I'd take Reggie and his leadership. But Bruce Smith was also amazing in his own right. Without them playing the same number of snaps for the same team at the same time in the same games.. There is no perfect answer.

 

[ivo610]

Reggie. He was more dominate and it seems a general consensus that he was the best by his peers.

 

[alan]

This is the Tom Brady vs Joe Montana fight or Favre vs Rodgers

There is no "right" answer... Fun to debate.

So the website also had one claiming that Rodgers was better or on a path to be better than Favre.
http://gamedaysportsblog.com/2015/07/16/move-over-favre-aaron-rodgers-is-the-best-packers-qb-ever/

This is my favorite sports website so i keep up with it pretty well and they have good comparison articles all the time: Ray Lewis OR **** Butkus, Roethlisberger OR Rivers, Pedro Martinez OR Bob Gibson. Just good stuff. I still have my money on Reggie and i think he was the best D-lineman ever but best defensive player, gotta be LT right?

 

[El Guapo]

I don't normally validate the premise that Super Bowl titles make one player or another better in these debates. However, it was Reggie that registered back-to-back sacks to derail the New England comeback. His play directly influenced a Super Bowl trophy. Slight edge to White in my book...but man, it was a real treat to watch Bruce Smith play all of those years.

 

[TJV]

I admit a pro-Reggie bias but even so IMO this one’s easy, from the article: “in Smith’s 19 year career he ended with only 2 more sacks than Reggie did in his 15 seasons… On a per-season basis, White not only had more sacks, but he had higher numbers per season in tackles, fumble recoveries, tackles for losses, and even interceptions.” Imagine if White hadn’t played two years in the USFL coming out of college. During his first four years in the NFL he averaged at least as many sacks as games played in a season. And over the course of his career White averaged about 13.5 sacks per 16-game regular seasons. Smith wouldn’t have touched his sacks record if White would have met either average. But more important to me is White’s per-season better numbers: He was better vs. the run and pass and in turnovers. What else is there?

 

[PackerDNA]

White also would have had the single season sack record but missed due to a strike shortened season. As it was I believe he had 21 sacks in 12 games.
They're different types of players, but I'll go with White; bigger, stronger, more of a force in both the run and pass.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Stats can mean a lot, but what I would like to know about Smith is "Did he elevate his team? Was he one of those guys who just made everyone better? What did he do off the field for the community?" I don't know much about Smith in regards to those things, but I do know all 3 answers when it came to Reggie White, he was a complete team player on and off the field.

 

[Croak]

Duh, no brainer here. Reggie; because HE was a Packer!

 

[Sky King]

Imagine them as bookends on D. I'm a homer, though. Reggie all the way.

 

[Mondio]

I'd go with Reggie and it's not even close. He was just more dominant all the way around, run, pass, big games, he was always making plays.

 

[lilredwing]

I like Reggie white

 

[Rick 12]

Duh, no brainer here. Reggie; because HE was a Packer!

I would love to have Reggie and Bruce both on your Defense that's for sure Reggie was great in Philly people there still talk about him with nothing but love !