# question about football trick play (Driscoll Middle School) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 8, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904 "2010-11-08T14:31:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@Kelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/21 "2010-11-08T17:46:49Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > The original “wrong ball” play: > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YnnnnyMjCw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YnnnnyMjCw) > Involves a little more theatrics than the OP’s version. Here’s another that didn’t work out so well for the offense: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kQbAP-K28J8/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHUBoAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgZShlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLAhQ1lTjEyG-6QiiM7LPmBSsOE32g "Wrong Ball Trick Play in football gone bad") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQbAP-K28J8) ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/22 "2010-11-08T17:47:43Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > As I said in Aussie sport no-one would stand around wondering what the referee thought, what the ruling would be, you would just get smashed. In American football, especially youth football, you’d _better_ care what the referee thinks, because there are some pretty severe penalties for hitting players when the ball _isn’t_ live. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/23 "2010-11-08T17:49:02Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > Devin Hester 108 yard return. > > (Go Bears!) Thank you, sir! I can’t you.tube at work so hopefully my memory, while undoubtably flawed, wasn’t off by too many orders of magnitude. ---
**Author:** ![diku](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@diku](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diku)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/24 "2010-11-08T17:49:32Z")
Doesn’t always work, either. And the guy with the ball got drilled. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kQbAP-K28J8/hqdefault.jpg "Wrong Ball Trick Play in football gone bad") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQbAP-K28J8) Damn. Beaten to it. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/25 "2010-11-08T17:51:32Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Did you watch the video? He just walked right through the defensive line. He was referring to **Trom** ’s version, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/26 "2010-11-08T19:12:28Z")
I don’t remember ever seeing trick plays like this in soccer (but I’m not any kind of soccer expert.) Do these things work because the rules of American football are a lot more complicated than the rules of soccer? I can see how the kids are confused, but I’m surprised they don’t at least look to the referee for guidance and/or stand in front of the quarterback to stop him until they know exactly what happened. I was thinking they should tackle him on principle but then Freddy the Pig says that there are penalties for tackling when the ball isn’t live. It seems unsportsmanlike to me, but I’m sure to other people it’s a cool maneuver. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/27 "2010-11-08T19:14:28Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Because he did something completely unexpected. He didn’t look like he was running a play, he looked like he was walking off the field. But then you would think he would walk sideways, not forward, right through the defensive players! > [@Munch](#): > > That’s a middle school, not a college, Arnold. Middle school = 7-8 grade (12-14 years old). I still get my terms mixed up. I should know better, my wife’s a teacher here in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/28 "2010-11-08T19:16:43Z")
Well, the ref’s not going to do anything. It’s not their job to tell one team to tackle the other. It’s the team’s job to know the rules. They could look at their coach, which it looks like some of them were doing, but even that much communication takes a few seconds. These are young kids. Obviously there were things they should have done, but I’ve spent enough time watching games of this caliber to know that they’re probably lucky to get the entire team facing the same direction at the same time, let alone be wily enough to see through a surprise play like this. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/29 "2010-11-08T19:18:25Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Well, the ref’s not going to do anything. It’s not their job to tell one team to tackle the other. It’s the team’s job to know the rules. But couldn’t you tell if the ball is live or not, by looking at the referee? eta: Another question: at the 13th second of the Youtube video in my OP, the guy holding the ball looks like he turns back, pushes the defender that has almost caught him, and then keeps on running. I was going to ask “is that legal”, then I figured that obviously it is, but I didn’t know you could do that. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/30 "2010-11-08T19:23:09Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > But couldn’t you tell if the ball is live or not, by looking at the referee? Yes. And that’s really all the time you need for someone to walk past you. The key here is that the offensive linemen didn’t budge. The defense takes the clue that the play has begun when a) the ball is snapped and b) the offensive linemen spring to attention. a) was done unorthodoxically (i.e. handed over the shoulder) and b) never happened. That’s going to make a lot of people think the play hadn’t started. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/31 "2010-11-08T19:42:03Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Because they are kids. They don’t have the hunt and kill mentality of higher level players and, in general, aren’t looking to hit a seemingly defenseless kid. Anyone who believes in that sentence was obviously homeschooled. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/32 "2010-11-08T19:48:01Z")
The more I think about this play, the more I think that it should’ve been disallowed. When a flag is called on a play, it seems like it’d be dangerous for the players to think to themselves, “I didn’t hear the whistle, maybe this guy’s trying to trick us. I should hit him anyway, just to be sure.” ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/33 "2010-11-08T19:51:33Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > The more I think about this play, the more I think that it should’ve been disallowed. When a flag is called on a play, it seems like it’d be dangerous for the players to think to themselves, “I didn’t hear the whistle, maybe this guy’s trying to trick us. I should hit him anyway, just to be sure.” Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/34 "2010-11-08T19:57:16Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Huh? I probably didn’t make myself clear. I’m kind of overdosing on sugar from the office cheesecake cookoff today. Anyway… I think the ref should’ve called a penalty on this play, because I think the precedent of the players wondering if a flag was actually called is a dangerous one… at least in middle school. It just seems like a bad idea for the kids to be thinking, on future plays, “This guy’s acting like there was a flag on the play, but I didn’t hear a whistle. I should sack him anyway, just to be sure.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/35 "2010-11-08T19:58:46Z")
Officials aren’t allowed to just make up penalties. Something has to actually be illegal. If you want to change the rules, that’s fine, but the refs can’t just make them up on the field. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/36 "2010-11-08T20:02:22Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > I probably didn’t make myself clear. I’m kind of overdosing on sugar from the office cheesecake cookoff today. > > Anyway… I think the ref should’ve called a penalty on this play, because I think the precedent of the players wondering if a flag was actually called is a dangerous one… at least in middle school. It just seems like a bad idea for the kids to be thinking, on future plays, “This guy’s acting like there was a flag on the play, but I didn’t hear a whistle. I should sack him anyway, just to be sure.” That’s not what happened though. A flag happened on the \*previous \*play, and the QB was yelling out that they didn’t mark off enough yardage. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/37 "2010-11-08T20:06:23Z")
It’s a legal play, but a bit cheesy to be doing it with middle school kids. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/38 "2010-11-08T20:14:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s a legal play, but a bit cheesy to be doing it with middle school kids. I actually like it in middle school. Plays like that help teach kids to learn the rules early - and give a concrete reason why knowing the rules gives you an advantage. It also forces you to pay attention and keep your head in the game. It also doesn’t have much on the line, like in high school. They’re more fun in basketball though - who doesn’t like the [Barking Dog](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8LAvlmOUus)? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/39 "2010-11-08T20:40:40Z")
I find it pretty lame and bordering on poor sportsmanship. Football is fairly intracate with it’s rules and kids of that age are literally learning on the field. To have some boneheaded coach throw that play in there “because he can” cheapens up the game IMHO. The opposing team obviously thought the play was dead even if there was no whistle. Maybe the coach is more suited to lead the Jr. Harlem Globe Trotters. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904/40 "2010-11-08T21:20:35Z")
For those of you that think it is unsportsmanlike… What’s your opinion on the [balk steal](http://wags-allthingsbaseball.blogspot.com/2007/10/balk-steal.html) in baseball? We used to do this when I played little league. It’s not unsportsmanlike just because your opponents don’t know the rules. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-football-trick-play-driscoll-middle-school/559904.md?page=3)