How to get a touchdown in football

This trick will only work once:

hat tip: Julia

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hat tip: Julia

WHOSE IDEA WAS THAT!! It was brilliant!!

I thought the play starts with a snap, a "a quick and continuous movement of the ball". That was continuous, at least till he held the ball out for a moment to be taken, but it sure as hell wasn't quick. At the highschool level, a play designed to cause confusion of whether the play has started is unsportsmanlike conduct and has a 15 yard penalty attached. I expect that because of these twits that's going to be appended to next years rules. The difference between a trick play and this is the difference between a magician making your watch disappear, and you wondering where your wallet is on the subway. Wouldn't that also count as illegal motion?

By Robert S. (not verified) on 08 Nov 2010 #permalink

With analogy to the law, this is within the letter of the law, but not within the spirit.

I imagine the first forward pass had to start the same way, yet I doubt it started in high school.

I prefer the simplicity of the move by King Id (of The Wizard of Id).
When appointed goalie of the court soccer team, he asked what his job was. "Prevent the other team from scoring" ...so the next day they lined up, and discovered the other team had been hung.
The king was probably an early incarnation of Lee Atwater.

By Birger Johansson (not verified) on 09 Nov 2010 #permalink

That was hilarious!
Hurray for the sneaker male strategy!

I thought the play starts with a snap, a "a quick and continuous movement of the ball". That was continuous, at least till he held the ball out for a moment to be taken, but it sure as hell wasn't quick. At the highschool level, a play designed to cause confusion of whether the play has started is unsportsmanlike conduct and has a 15 yard penalty attached. I expect that because of these twits that's going to be appended to next years rules.

The coach who drew up the play ran its description past the officials before the game: they okayed it.

It is actually a great object lesson for those kids who will go on to become professional NFL players. Just a couple of weeks ago a play depended on the simple rule that if you fall down and then stand up you are not down unless an official blew a whistle or a member of the other team touched you. When you see defense players go over and touch an offensive ball carrier who is flat on the ground after a dive through the mass of players, that's not some sort of superstition at work, it's following that rule. In this case, if the defensive players were perfectly aware of the rules and well trained to always follow them, they would have not let the QB past the line of scrimmage without a fight.