Trick football plays are fun to watch. They aren't attempted very often but when they are every fan watching the game feels their level of excitement rise. The potential for the play to have a great or a disastrous outcome just adds to the excitement.
Trick football plays are any play that seems like one thing is going to happen and then something else that's totally out of the ordinary actually happens. Many trick plays involve someone other than the quarterback throwing the ball.
Often on trick plays, the running back or a wide receiver will throw the football. Of course this is a trick because usually a running back will either get a handoff and run or will catch the ball and run with it. A wide receiver will usually catch and run with the ball. So, when a running back and a receiver throw the ball it's a trick play.
One of the trick football plays that involve a running back is a play that looks like a sweep but is actually a passing play. For this trick play the ball is handed or pitched to a running back. The running back then sweeps right or left faking like he's going to run the ball. However, before he turns up field and runs the ball, he stops and tries to throw the ball downfield to a tight end or a wide receiver. Occasionally the running back may even try to throw the ball to another running back or a quarterback.
This play will work if the defense thinks it's a run and fails to cover the players going out for a pass. However, the play could quickly turn bad if one of two things happen: If the defense gets to the running back and sacks him or if the defense covers the receivers but the running back throws the ball anyway. There is also the chance that the running back, who isn't used to throwing the ball, throws a horrible pass that gets intercepted.
The same problems exist when a wide receiver is asked to throw the ball. The receiver could get tackled behind the line of scrimmage or throw an interception. However, the same possible rewards can be achieved too. The wide receiver could throw a touchdown.
There are a couple different trick football plays that involve the wide receiver throwing the ball. One play involves the wide receiver coming in motion and then receiving a handoff or a pitch from the quarterback. Another play involves throwing the ball back to the wide receiver. The final trick play has the ball getting to the wide receiver by it being handed first to a running back and then to the wide receiver.
Trick football plays are great for the game of football. Just when a team seems to be getting too predictable, they can run one of many trick football plays and suddenly lose the too predictable tag. Some of the best trick football plays involve either a running back or a wide receiver throwing the ball downfield.
Coach Tucker is dedicated to seeing his teams succeed in the classroom and on the football field. He shares his love of the game (along with drills and plays) for free on this blog:
http://www.football-tutorials.com/
