Why are Quarterbacks “Sacked”?

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Bill calling from Bayfield County, Wisconsin.

Hey, Bill, what’s up?

Ever since I was a kid back in the 60s, they refer to a quarterback getting tackled behind the line of scrimmage while trying to pass as a sack.

Now, I know in the UK, sack is referred to somebody losing their position, being fired, in other words, but I don’t get the connection between a paper bag and a player getting tackled.

Oh, this is so good, Bill. You’re opening up a huge can of worms.

So the first thing to know about sack is that it is an old word. The modern word sack, as in a bag, can be traced back to Acadian. This is a language that was written in cuneiform.

So that makes the word about 2,300 to 5,000 years old. This is old. I mean, recognizably, the word sack, like the sounds, the S and the K sound are there. It’s crazy, right?

And then the word spread into Greek and Latin and Phoenician and other Semitic languages and entered all the Romance languages and many of the Germanic languages.

I mean, throughout Europe, you will find some version of the word sack in nearly every language. Recognizably the word sack, meaning this bag that holds things.

But in the original sense, it was a cloth bag or a fabric bag. And this is important because the football sack to sack a quarterback is related to the idea of pillaging.

That is, you sack a town. You know, if you sack Carthage, you have bags to put in your treasures, the booty that you’re stealing. You know, the gold and the silverware and whatever else is valuable, even food items.

It all goes into a sack and you throw those over your back or on a wagon or on a mule and you take off because you are the victorious army.

So you have literally sacked down.

Wow.

Yeah.

And so it’s a much reduced form. This is called amelioration in language when something that is particularly negative or violent becomes a little milder.

So to sack in football doesn’t contain that kind of drama or violence. But the idea of taking something from a quarterback is still there.

You’re taking the ball, right, or trying to. You’re at least taking the down away from them.

Fascinating. Fascinating.

And that’s where the English idea to sack someone, meaning to fire them, comes from too. They literally would get their sack and put their belongings in it and leave.

Oh, okay. Learn something every day.

There was a fellow by the name of Deacon Jones who played defensive end for the L.A. Rams, and he often claimed credit for coin the term sacking, but the evidence just isn’t there.

Even though his obituary said it, he probably did not coin the term. But he was a well-known defensive end who sacked many a quarterback and has an extraordinary record for doing it.

He certainly did.

Well, that’s very fascinating. I appreciate you taking my question.

I’ll be listening loyally to your program. Thank you so much.

Absolutely.

Take care of yourself, Bill. Have a good day.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Take care.

Bye-bye.

Well, what’s the word or phrase that’s been thrilling you lately? We know there’s one. You can always send us an email about it, words@waywordradio.org.