Help me track down some stories about old trick plays

April 19, 2013 8:50 AM

I remember once reading a number of stories about old trick plays (in particular, some old American football plays) that were deemed to dirty and the rules were changed to outlaw them. But now my Google-fu is failing me, and I can't seem to turn up anything about them online. In particular, I remember a story about a team bringing in a very small player, handing them the ball, and having another player or to heave them over the tops of the heads of the opposing team and into the endzone. I also remember a story about a team sewing the image of a football onto the bellies of all of their jerseys to make it harder to tell who had the ball. Anyone who can help me track down sources for these stories (and/or similar tales from sports) will have my unending gratitude.

I'm researching some sports-based trivia questions for a local pub quiz. I'm posting this anonymously because otherwise a casual internet search by anyone who knows that I'm hosting the quiz might give them an unfair advantage.

posted by anonymous to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

Glenn "Pop" Warner did a lot of this, in the early days of the game (43-page PDF):

Warner ran the sports program at Carlisle from 1899-1903 and from 1907-1914. He invented the reverse play, the single wing, the double wing, the three-point stance, and a variety of blocking schemes still in use today. He is also famous for plays and tricks that were soon outlawed. They included sewing a football-shaped leather patch to the front of players’ uniforms to make it hard to tell who had the ball, running off the field behind the opposing team’s bench and then coming back on to catch a pass downfield, and a play called the “hunchback,” in which the ball was shoved inside the ball carrier’s shirt.

posted by Etrigan at 8:55 AM on April 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

This play has been going around for decades, but in the age of youtube has become much more common, I think. Basically, the quarterback and center start talking to each other about how they have the wrong ball, and sometimes shout to an off-field coach who tells them to bring him the ball. The center then makes a slow, but legal snap to the quarterback, who walks either toward the sideline or straight up-field in the linked video. When he sees daylight, he then breaks into a run.

The argument from USA football is that it is unsportsmanlike and should be penalized, but I've never heard of it not being allowed. I'd love to see a version that didn't work.
posted by skewed at 9:46 AM on April 19, 2013

This is pretty much exactly the fumble-rooski
posted by sandmanwv at 11:28 AM on April 19, 2013

The argument from USA football is that it is unsportsmanlike and should be penalized, but I've never heard of it not being allowed. I'd love to see a version that didn't work.

Here you go.
posted by mr_roboto at 12:12 PM on April 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

There was the "Flying V" formation.
posted by dreaming in stereo at 12:17 PM on April 19, 2013

How about when they used get a high jumping guy/tall basketball player to jump from behind the line and block field goals. Got outlawed in the 80s I think.
posted by overhauser at 5:00 PM on April 19, 2013

These are all from Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss, or similar titles for football and other sports edited by Zander Hollander, which were some of my very favorite books as a kid.
posted by Madamina at 6:02 PM on April 19, 2013

"In particular, I remember a story about a team bringing in a very small player, handing them the ball, and having another player or to heave them over the tops of the heads of the opposing team and into the endzone." They did that in an episode of Little House on the Prairie, but that's probably not what you meant. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGt5HD6d4fM
posted by bentley at 6:13 PM on April 19, 2013