A trick play, also known as a gadget play, gimmick play or trickeration, is a play in gridiron football that uses deception and unorthodox tactics to fool the opposing team. A trick play is often risky, offering the potential for a large gain or a touchdown if it is successful, but with the chance of a significant loss of yards or a turnover if not. Trick plays are rarely used not only because of the riskiness, but also to maintain the element of surprise for when they are used.
Trick plays take advantage of defenses' expectations and conventional wisdom, the set of basic principles to which most offenses adhere. Most offenses follow a basic set of conventions in that once the ball is snapped to the quarterback, it seldom changes hands more than once: a hand-off or pitch to a running back, or a forward pass, and the players with the best skill sets for those particular plays are the ones that will execute them.
For example, the quarterback is by far the best passer on the field in most situations and would thus be relied upon for the vast majority of forward passes; likewise, kickers are, in the modern era, seldom relied upon for anything other than kicking. The typical American football playbook relies on simple, relatively low-risk plays with high odds of gaining yardage and low odds of catastrophe (a turnover, loss of yardage or, in the worst-case scenario, the other team scoring points). Trick plays eschew these principles: trick plays can easily exploit a defensive weakness if it is not foreseen, but if the trick is foreseen, it can be easily foiled and the play will often yield catastrophic results.
Background In most conventional forms of American football, the quarterback receives the ball during the snap and then either throws it or hands it off to another player. That player, the "receiver", attempts to move the ball forward past the line of scrimmage. If they are successful, the line moves forward to that point and the process continues through a series of "plays", eventually (ideally) to a touchdown.
Due to a variety of interacting rules, offensive plays generally fall into two distinct groups. Plays where the (planned) source of gains are through the quarterback throwing the ball forward are known as "passing plays", while those where the gains are due to the player running with the ball are "rushing plays". Rules governing which players are eligible to receive a pass results in the offensive team being split into groups; the offensive linemen protect the quarterback, wide receivers and tight-ends are positioned at the line to run forward to receive passes, and the backs are positioned behind the line to receive the ball in a hand-off and then continue running forward for a rush.
The defensive team is not privy to which type of play will develop. To protect against common plays, their line ends up divided up much the same way as the offense, with the defensive tackle at the front both holding the line as well as attempting to threaten the quarterback, the defensive backs positioned behind the line to protect against pass plays, and the linebackers positioned to counter a rush. Once the play starts, the defensive players tend to collapse towards the action, preventing forward motion of the rush, or blocking a pass. This commitment to a course of action is typically safe; there is only one forward pass allowed per play, so once the ball is passed the rushers are out of the action and all the defenders can attempt to block the receiver, and while anyone can throw the ball forward, doing so is so specialized that once the quarterback hands off the ball or tosses to a runner, the possibility of a forward pass is generally eliminated.
Trick plays attempt to cause the defense to commit to a play in order to leave them badly out of position for the play that actually develops. A simple example is the end-around play, where one of the eligible receivers runs parallel to the line of scrimmage (see man-in-motion), takes the ball from the quarterback in a handoff or lateral toss, and then starts a rush. As the receiver would normally be expected to run down the field in order to catch a forward pass, the defensive back assigned to cover that motion starts opposite him some distance behind the line. If the back does not move laterally to match the motion of the receiver, the receiver may find themselves unopposed on the opposite side of the line once the play develops.
More dangerous trick plays normally combine multiple passes or hand-offs. In the Flea Flicker, the ball is handed-off or laterally passed to a player in what appears to be a rush play. The player then passes the ball back to the quarterback, who throws it to the receivers. Properly timed, the defensive team will have started responding to the rush by moving forward, leaving the receivers wide open. However, timing the play is difficult, and with two lateral passes and a forward throw, the chances for error are great. A failure leaves the ball behind the line of scrimmage in what will almost certainly be a loss of yards. The play also requires all passes prior to the final one thrown by the quarterback to be either parallel to the line of scrimmage or backwards, since only one forward pass is allowed per play. Multiple forward passes will result in a penalty.
Common trick plays Common trick plays attempt to place the defense out of position by starting action in one direction, then completing it in another. They often appear to be a conventional play at first. There is no real "trick" being played in terms of deception, the defense simply reacts without considering the possibility of the ball carrier changing mid-play. Some of these plays are so common as to not be recognized as trick plays, instead being a regular part of the American football playbook.
End arounds In an end-around play, a wide receiver or split end runs laterally behind the line of scrimmage, takes a handoff from the quarterback, and continues around the opposite end of the line. As a regular part of the playbook, an end-around with a proper lead blocker such as an H-back or fullback can get positive yardage without relying on trickery. Because the defense normally expects the wide receivers to run a downfield pass pattern, an end-around that catches the defenders by surprise can result in a big gain.
Reverse A similar trick play is a reverse, which often begins as an end-around. In a reverse, a ball-carrier running parallel to the line of scrimmage in one direction hands off to a teammate coming in the opposite direction. This abruptly reverses the lateral flow of the play; if the defense is slow to react, the second ball-carrier might make it around the end of the line to a near-open field. Variations of the basic reverse include the double reverse (which involves a second flow-reversing handoff), exceedingly rare triple reverses involving even more handoffs, the fake reverse described below, and the reverse flea flicker.
Double pass A double pass is a play in which the quarterback throws a backwards pass to another player, who then looks to throw a forward pass. (Football rules limit an offense to one forward pass on any given play. No such restriction exists with lateral passes.) This play was used famously in a 2015 NFL Divisional playoff game between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens when Julian Edelman threw a 51-yard touchdown pass in the 3rd quarter. Because an incomplete lateral is a fumble, double passes are widely considered one of the riskiest plays in football.
Halfback pass (See also Halfback option play.) In this play the quarterback pitches the ball to a halfback as if it were an outside run, but instead of running up the field the halfback looks for an open receiver to pass the ball to. Teams that have a player who is both a skilled runner and passer use this play more often. NFL Hall of Famers Walter Payton and LaDainian Tomlinson are notable examples, each having scored multiple rushing, passing and receiving touchdowns during their careers.
Wide receiver pass / fake reverse Similar to the halfback pass, the ball is given to a wide receiver on an end around or reverse, but instead of turning upfield he looks for a passing target (which in some situations might include the quarterback, who has run a pass pattern after the handoff.) Like the halfback pass, this play often utilizes a multi-skilled player; Antwaan Randle El is a wide receiver who played quarterback in college and is known for his ability to pass, throwing a 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward, another wide receiver who also played as a quarterback in college, during Super Bowl XL.
Flea Flicker In a conventional Flea Flicker, the ball is handed or tossed to a player to begin what appears to be a typical rush. The rusher pitches it back to the quarterback just before crossing the line of scrimmage. The quarterback can then attempt a conventional pass play. Other versions of this play are the reverse flea flicker and the double pass flea flicker.
Reverse Flea Flicker As the name implies, this is a combination of a reverse and a flea flicker. After one or more reverse handoffs, the ball is lateraled back to the quarterback, who looks for an open receiver downfield. As with all flea-flickers, the play is designed to trick the defensive backs into coming upfield prematurely to defend what they believe to be a rushing play. A variant is to have one of the recipients of the handoffs throw the ball himself; if the passer runs in an arc deep enough into the backfield and the reverse forestalls the pass rush, it provides plenty of time for the passer to make a proper read, unlike the normal flea flicker.
Throwback Flea Flicker Also known as a throwback double pass, this is a combination of a double pass play and a flea flicker. A typical fleaflicker involves a handoff to a running back who then underhand pitches the ball back to the quarterback, but in this version, the running back gets outside and throws a backward pass to the quarterback, who then throws a forward pass. As with all flea flickers, it’s designed to get the defense into their run fit, but in this version, the defense is drawn to the outside, where the ball is thrown to the other side.