Falcons DT Calais Campbell records his 100th sack
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Falcons DE Calais Campbell gets his 100th sack of his career, taking down Commanders Sam Howell. (0:22)
ATLANTA — After it was over, after Calais Campbell accomplished what he’d waited almost five-and-a-half games for in Atlanta and 16-plus seasons for in the NFL became a reality, the defensive tackle danced.
Specifically, Campbell did exactly what he said he would do after he picked up career sack No. 100. He did his own rendition of the Dirty Bird.
It was a big moment for the 37-year-old, who is one of the few Falcons players to actually remember Jamal Anderson (and later others) doing the dance in real time in the late 1990s, but it’s also a massive career achievement.
When he disengaged with Washington offensive lineman Sam Cosmi after pushing him back to bring down Commanders quarterback Sam Howell, he became the sixth active player to reach 100 sacks.
The others? Aaron Donald, Justin Houston, Chandler Jones, Cameron Jordan and Von Miller.
“It’s still pretty sweet,” Campbell said. “The best part about it was the genuine happiness that my teammates had for me. I went along and seeing how happy everybody was.
“I come to the sideline and you literally, everybody just dapped me up and gave me some love and that was a good feeling.”
His teammate, Grady Jarrett, made sure to tell him after the game what an accomplishment it was because he knows Campbell can take losses hard — Washington beat Atlanta, 24-16, — and he wanted him to make sure he enjoyed it even in defeat.
The sack moved him into a tie for 40th all-time with Carlos Dunlap and Andre Tippett in the official sack lists (started in 1982) and a tie for 60th in Pro Football Reference’s all-time list dating back to 1960 with Dunlap, Tippett and Alex Karras.
Next up for him would be William Fuller, Charles Haley and Cameron Wake, all with 100.5 sacks, and Robert Quinn at No. 36 on the official NFL list with 102 sacks.
“It does feel good,” Campbell said. “To reach a milestone that I dreamt about since I was a kid.”