They reached the QB; why not Canton?

The art of the sack was never lost on Bruce Smith, Derrick Thomas, Claude Humphrey, Richard Dent and John Randle.

Among the greatest practitioners of wrestling quarterbacks to the ground, they are among 17 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A minimum of four finalists and a maximum of seven will be chosen today.

Smith is the career leader with 200 sacks in 18 years. He also was the defensive anchor for the Buffalo Bills teams that went to four straight Super Bowls in the early 1990s -- and lost four straight times.

Dent and Randle are tied for sixth with 137 1/2 career sacks, making Randle’s total even more impressive because was a tackle for the Vikings from 1990 to 2000, then played with Seattle for three years. He trails only Smith for consecutive seasons with at least 10 sacks (8).

Dent starred for the Bears and led the league with 17 sacks in 1985, the year the Chicago defense throttled the rest of the NFL on the way to the Super Bowl title; he was MVP of that game. He played 15 seasons, 12 with Chicago, and also was with San Francisco, Indianapolis and Philadelphia.

Thomas, who died in 2000 in a car crash, is 11th in sacks with 1261/2. A rushing outside linebacker who also had responsibilities in pass coverage for Kansas City, Thomas set an NFL mark with seven sacks in one game against Seattle on Nov. 11, 1990, a year in which he paced the NFL with 20 sacks. He was the 1989 defensive rookie of the year.

Humphrey played his entire career (1968-81) before the sack became an official statistic, so records of his achievements are sketchy. But historians recall his fierce pass rush and the way he dominated blockers. He spent 11 seasons with the Falcons -- he was 1968’s defensive rookie of the year -- and three with the Eagles.

Sackmasters are not the only defensive players among the finalists. Also up for enshrinement are defensive back Rod Woodson and tackle Cortez Kennedy.

Smith, Randle, Woodson and tight end Shannon Sharpe are first-time eligibles. Receiver Cris Carter, who stands third in career receptions with 1,101, is on the ballot for the second year. Another wideout, Andre Reed, is among three candidates from the Buffalo organization, joining Smith and owner Ralph Wilson.

49ers get Raye

Jimmy Raye will become the San Francisco 49ers’ seventh offensive coordinator in seven seasons.

Raye, 62, has been an offensive coordinator for six previous franchises, including the Oakland Raiders in 2004-05, when he also served as Norv Turner’s assistant head coach. He spent the last three seasons as the New York Jets’ running backs coach under Eric Mangini.

Raye fits Coach Mike Singletary’s desire for a coordinator who emphasizes the running game. He was the L.A. Rams’ coordinator in 1984 when Eric Dickerson rushed for a league-record 2,105 yards.

Etc.

Troy Vincent remains a candidate to become the next executive director of the NFL Players Assn. despite a Virginia congressman’s revelation that Vincent was behind a congressional letter that raised questions about the union’s search process. . . . A lawyer for Michael Vick told a federal bankruptcy judge that the imprisoned NFL star could be transferred to a halfway house in Virginia any day. The judge presiding over Vick’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case asked about the transfer during a hearing at which he also approved procedures to sell some property of the former Falcons quarterback.