trick play
What Is The Definition Of Trick Play In Football?
In American football, a trick play uses deception, trickery, and unorthodox strategies to fool the opposing team. In most instances, they offer huge rewards if they’re run to perfection, such as a game-deciding touchdown, or huge losses if they aren’t in the form of yardage or a victory.
What Are Some Examples Of Trick Plays?
Many trick plays start in the minds of the coaches who try to diagram Xs and Os in the hopes of gaining any advantage over the opposing team. Often, they’re tucked deep away in a play sheet, called when the opposing team least expects or when a matchup opportunity presents itself.
The first type of trick play begins in one direction until it quickly reverts into a completely different path. The trick reveals itself once the play is developing and relies on its subtlety and change in direction to take the opposing team by surprise and rack up the most yardage or score.
Here are examples of trick plays that develop once the ball has been snapped:
- Hook and ladder: This play encompasses a skill player who runs a curl pattern, receives a completed forward pass, and then laterals to another skill player running a crossing route.
- Flea flicker: This play begins as a typical rush, with the ball carrier seemingly preparing for a rush up the field. But, then the runner pitches the ball backward to the quarterback, who can then complete a pass play.There are a couple more types of flea flicker, including the reverse flea flicker and the throwback flea flicker. In the reverse flea flicker, the ball is lateraled back to the quarterback after one or more reverse handoffs. The Throwback sees the player who got the handoff complete a backward pass to the quarterback, who then throws the ball downfield for a legal forward pass.
The second type of trick play involves being deceptive or sly with the positioning of the ball. An example includes:
- Statue of Liberty: After the quarterback is snapped the ball, he appears to be attempting a pass. As he scans downfield, he moves the ball to his non-throwing hand behind his back and then fakes a pass to immediately confuse the defensive pass protection. At that moment, a skill player running in the opposite direction of the fake pass streaks behind to grab the ball and, if performed correctly, will have tricked the defense into being on the opposite side of the field.
- Fumblerooski: In this trick play, the quarterback receives the snap and puts the ball onto the turf — technically a fumble. As he rolls out from the ball, he fakes a pass or pretends to hand the ball off to a running back. As this unravels, another player picks up the fumbled ball and runs.
In addition, fake field goals, fake punts, onside kicks, and fake spikes all fall into deceptive plays that begin in one formation but quickly change once the ball is snapped.
What Are The Most Famous Trick Plays In Football History?
There are several times that trick plays have been used to success. In our current always-on society, these plays are often dissected in real-time on social networks and Twitter, to the amazement or anger of fans, depending on which side of the play you’re standing on.
Here are a few examples of famous trick plays in American football history:
2007 Fiesta Bowl State of Liberty: Boise State vs. Oklahoma
Entering the Fiesta Bowl, mid-major Boise State were 7.5 point underdogs against the Sooners. The game would be one of the most thrilling bowl games in college football history, featuring numerous trick plays and overtime. In OT, the game was tied using a trick play, a fourth-down pass to a backup tight end. Here’s where the game went bonkers. Instead of tying the game with an extra point to send it to another overtime, they tried a two-point conversion. QB Jared Zabransky faked a throw to confuse the Oklahoma defense and held the ball behind his back which was grabbed by Ian Johnson, who effortlessly ran into the end zone to win the game. To date, it remains one of the finest executed State of Liberty plays in history. That wasn’t the only trickery. As the Boise State team and fans celebrated, Johnson proposed to his girlfriend, a cheerleader on the team. She said, ‘yes.’
1981 AFC playoffs Hook and Lateral: Miami Dolphins vs. San Diego Chargers
As the clock was ticking to the end of the first half, Dolphins quarterback Don Strock threw a pass to Duriel Harris. Then, inexplicably to the defense, Harris stopped in his tracks and lateraled the ball to his teammate, running back Tony Nathan, who streaked 23 yards downfield for a touchdown.
Super Bowl LII “Philly Special:” Philadelphia Eagles vs. New England Patriots
In one of the most famous trick plays in recent memory, Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson called the play that ended up having a huge momentum shift in the game. On a pivotal late second quarter fourth down, instead of attempting a field goal, Pederson called the Philly Special. On the play, quarterback Nick Foles shifted behind his line where he appeared to kill the current the play, when Jason Kelce snapped the ball directly to a running back, who pitched the ball to tight end Jason Burton, who eventually passed the ball to a wide-open Foles in the end zone.
NFL Films summarized the play perfectly in their documentary on the 2018 Eagles squad: “A play that the Eagles had never called before, run on fourth down by an undrafted rookie running back, pitching the football to a third-string tight end who had never attempted an NFL pass before, throwing to a backup quarterback who had never caught an NFL or college pass before, on the biggest stage for football.”
Examples Of How Eight In The Box Is Used In Commentary
1. The Chicago Bears could’ve attempted to punt the ball to the Detroit Lions, but instead, Trenton Gill rifled the ball to Darnell Mooney, who was able to secure the catch and the first down.
2. As metrics and data continue to trump coach decision-making, some teams like the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs are not afraid to use trick plays to gain an advantage over the opposition.
Sport The Term Is Used
1. Football
Also Known As:
1. Gimmick play
2. Gadget play
3. Special play