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AJ McKenzie
  • 2 days ago
Slight of hand
IG: aj_mckenzie416
Twitter: AJMckenzie94847
Transcript
00:01Well, I got 27 double reverses today.
00:04The double reverse is amazing!
00:06Double reverse coming back the other way.
00:08The first time you saw it...
00:10Hey, hey!
00:12What's that?
00:13So that's one of those gadgets you get away with if you can execute it.
00:16I mean, the common vernacular is that they're called trick plays.
00:19But I prefer to call them illusion plays.
00:27Somewhere off the Las Vegas Strip is a secret warehouse that holds the answers to all the world's magic tricks.
00:36This is Houdini's straitjacket.
00:38A lot of Houdini stuff over here.
00:41Clock's built by Robert Houdin, father of modern magic.
00:46Although David Copperfield has never been an offensive coordinator,
00:50the king of magic knows plenty about NFL sleight of hand.
00:55Do you believe this?
00:56Have you ever seen anything like this?
00:58To create wonder, whether it's on the stage or on the football field.
01:02Stuff throws it downfield, it is complete.
01:04The lateral back at the 20.
01:05You have to know what the audience is going to think.
01:08You have to know where their mind's going to go, what they expect.
01:10And then go in a completely different direction.
01:12And that's why we're alike in so many ways.
01:15What a play!
01:17Wow!
01:17The Houdini act!
01:18Here's an example of a magician or a player and the defense.
01:22I think something's going on there, but actually something is happening behind the scenes.
01:26They gotta come out with trick plays. They can't run against us.
01:28When I do a piece of magic, I have to convince you that it's very, very natural.
01:32So anything tricky is hidden, but everything they see is very natural.
01:36Unbelievable. Unbelievable.
01:37And what I see on the field and what we all see on the field when somebody does an illusionary
01:40play,
01:41they see bodies moving in a very natural way when they're hiding something in a very unnatural way.
01:47Put the ball on his right hip and then drill.
01:49The six yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker.
01:52Whether you believe in magic or not, our countdown of the top ten trick plays of all time will stir
01:59your imagination.
02:00It's a miracle! Tennessee has pulled a miracle!
02:08The number ten trick play of all time.
02:10Dan Marino's big spike.
02:12Not high.
02:13I believe Marino is saying I'm gonna spike it.
02:15He just didn't expect that.
02:17Touchdown.
02:18Marino takes the snap from center.
02:20He's looking.
02:20He's dropping.
02:22Touchdown Dolphins!
02:23And I go, oh, wow!
02:25What did he do?
02:25You know what the Jets was making?
02:27He's gonna take the ball and throw it into the ground.
02:29Boom. Touchdown.
02:30Love it.
02:35Not only was it just that play, but remember they were down three scores in that game.
02:40Not just leading up to that point.
02:42In 1994, Dan Marino was in the process of rallying the Dolphins from an 18-point deficit
02:48when he unveiled our number ten trick play of all time.
02:54Everyone in the ballpark obviously thinks that you're gonna spike the ball.
02:58And as I recall, Marino just yelled, clock, clock, clock, out at Mark Ingram, his wide receiver.
03:04We're seeing another spectacular effort by Marino who fires. Touchdown!
03:09They catch the Jets napping.
03:11Aaron Glenn was the Jets cornerback.
03:13He was a rookie that year.
03:15He bit, hesitated for just a second.
03:18I mean, this is a beautiful play.
03:19Huge comeback win for the Dolphins.
03:23Aaron Glenn, the future coach, and he was a good player.
03:28I don't know who thought of it, but that was a great idea.
03:31Actually, Bernie Kosar brought it to the Dolphins.
03:34He was back up to Dan.
03:35They had put it in and practiced it, and it's a thing that we actually did.
03:39If you take a look at it, the offensive linemen, all they did was stand up.
03:43You gotta have linemen that are good actors.
03:45When you fake the spike, you want your tackle.
03:47They kind of stand up in their life.
03:48I guess this is over, right?
03:50Oh!
03:51Boom!
03:51Hits Mark Ingram.
03:52They caught the Jets off guard on that play.
03:54Get out!
03:55I know you like that car!
03:57Woo!
03:59Humiliating.
04:00Humiliating for the Jets.
04:01That's like being on a date, and the girl goes,
04:03I'm gonna go to the bathroom, and then an hour later you realize she left.
04:06That's the type of humiliation that was.
04:08It was great.
04:11The one thing I remember about that fake spike is I'd never seen it before.
04:14I'd never saw that one before.
04:16Well, that's definitely something I'd never seen.
04:18Dan Marino does deserve high praise for originality.
04:21But was his innovation ethical?
04:24The defense is just standing there.
04:27If there's a middle finger of fake plays, that's it.
04:31It's a cruel world in the NFL!
04:33It wouldn't be a particularly friendly thing to do, but it would work.
04:36I would say the people that diagrammed and did that,
04:40they'd taken out the woodshed and we would spank them on their bare butt.
04:44Today was a great win, alright!
04:49Watch the fake spike! Be fagging and closing!
04:53The legacy of this controversial play can still be seen today.
04:57Look at that! Look at that!
04:58With mixed results.
05:00Aw, man.
05:02The thing I worried about, you know, was if you did fake the spike,
05:06both official blows the whistle.
05:08The whistle blew because the official was fooled by the fake spike.
05:14Marino threw for 420 touchdowns in his career,
05:17but it's our number 10 trick play of all time that everyone remembers.
05:22The first time I ever remember seeing it was Dan Marino against the New York Jets years ago.
05:28That should be number one.
05:29Number 10? That's absurd.
05:30The Marino fake spike, to me, is maybe the best trick play of the century.
05:36That was unbelievable!
05:37I love it!
05:38That should be number one.
05:40You diss Dan Marino.
05:41Is this an anti-Miami bias we got going, or is it a pro New York thing?
05:45What's going on with the clock?
05:47Like, that play was so good, it killed the Jets for the next two seasons in some change.
05:54Terrible.
05:55Play.
05:57The number 9 trick play of all time, the fake field goal.
06:03The heartbeat goes in the kicker.
06:06He may have to throw a pass, he may have to do a lateral, he may have to run with
06:09the ball.
06:09That's why I like the fake field goal, because I want the kicker to actually play football.
06:14Teams don't do that enough.
06:15You see so many teams selling out on the field.
06:18You sit there and you say, boy, all that guy has to do is pick the ball up, flick it
06:22over his shoulder.
06:23What a play!
06:25Hit that!
06:26There's a different version, you can pick it up and throw it.
06:28Let the throw's wide open, Kevin Boss!
06:30I like a couple things where people have pitched it, they've run like an option.
06:34The one thing you can say about that play is, are you not entertained?
06:38Look at that!
06:40David Aker.
06:41While there are plenty of varieties of our number 9 trick play, one in particular is designed to take advantage
06:47of defenses dozing off.
06:50The first time I saw the play was in 1962 when Navy ran it.
06:53You know, it was a little bit of a controversial play.
06:56They called it the sleeper.
06:57Fake!
06:58And Mormon throws a pass, he's wide open!
07:00He will walk into the end zone!
07:02You can't come off the bench and stand on the sidelines.
07:05As the offense is leaving, one of these guys stops.
07:08He never walked off the field.
07:10Then they snap it and they throw it to them before they cover it.
07:13A fake field goal!
07:14And the 49ers' right touch!
07:15Oh, we got a left-hander here?
07:17Down!
07:18Used it in Cleveland against the Redskins for a touchdown.
07:21And he is wide open.
07:22Oh, they got away with one, that's great.
07:23Used it against the Colts.
07:25Here my first year with the Patriots.
07:27What a play!
07:27The St. Louis game was a perfect situation.
07:30Caught us all by surprise.
07:31It is a legal play.
07:32And you can't use it all the time, but it, you know, it has its moments.
07:38To me, it's kind of a BS play, so I'm never voting for that one, to be honest with you.
07:41Hate to tell you.
07:45Well, every kicker, I think, probably has a dream of running for a touchdown.
07:51I like the fake field goal, but most of the time, like, something goes horribly wrong.
07:55Can this get any worse?
07:56Generally, the holders...
07:57Because you're putting the ball in the hands of your worst athlete.
08:02They don't train to do that.
08:04A punter, right?
08:05And he only gets on the field to boot the ball.
08:07And then the kicker, who's, like, one step above the punter.
08:10So you got two guys who are, like, the bottom of your please-do-something-right list,
08:13and you're asking them to do something that doesn't involve their feet.
08:17Unbelievable.
08:18A just-gone horse.
08:19Can you take the field goal?
08:21The Hooners, baby!
08:22Most coaches think that's probably a good way to get fired if the play doesn't work.
08:26And that's why you don't see the fake very often.
08:29Exactly.
08:31Jim Zorn perfected the play as the Seahawks holder.
08:34They fake it!
08:35Zorn back to pass!
08:36Joseph Fuse, he's up!
08:39But his success didn't translate to the coaching level.
08:42You don't come out in some kind of formation that obviously makes it clear you're trying a fake field goal
08:47like Washington did a couple years ago.
08:49Oh, that's so terrible.
08:50The swinging door.
08:53Maybe Jim Zorn should have come and suited up for the game.
08:58When they came out in the swinging gate.
09:00And the Giants would take time out.
09:02And then they came out in the swinging gate again.
09:04Upstream to the swinging gate.
09:06I said swinging door.
09:07I don't know what to say.
09:09What is that?
09:11I really think it's the swinging door play because that's what your office door is going to be as a
09:18coach if you call it once, much less twice.
09:20If it works, you look really good.
09:23And if it doesn't work, you look really bad.
09:32Nice.
09:33Fake the end around.
09:34Now they give it on the reverse to Bush.
09:36Any kind of reverse is a classic example of misdirection.
09:39A little sleight of hand there, I'll tell you what.
09:41Watch over here.
09:42I'm going to do something over here.
09:44It's good work.
09:47Understandably, identifying our number eight play can get tricky.
09:51We get into this on our broadcast all the time because I think people confuse them.
09:55An end around is simply a wide receiver coming around, taking a hand off from the quarterback.
10:01It's an end around.
10:02A reverse is after the end around.
10:04The receiver then hands the ball to somebody else coming in the other direction.
10:07The ball has been reversed.
10:09An end around and a reverse.
10:11Reverses are cool.
10:12I know in the Sandlot, the double reverse was even better.
10:16I got 27 double reverses today.
10:18The double reverse is amazing!
10:20Double reverse coming back the other way.
10:22The first time you saw it.
10:23Yeah!
10:23Hey!
10:24Hey!
10:26What's that?
10:27My line can't take that kind of joke.
10:28I haven't seen one of those last played flag football.
10:31Then once in a while, the last guy at the ball was throwing the damn ball.
10:34He's going to throw it down the field.
10:36Now you're really confused.
10:38Touchdown, Pittsburgh!
10:39The Pittsburgh Steelers did it the hard way!
10:44It's exciting because it's almost like the hair is like standing up on your back because...
10:49They did it the hard way by making it look easy.
10:53You know everybody's chasing you.
10:55Our number eight play contributed to nine of Jerry Rice's NFL record 208 touchdowns.
11:01They're not going to catch him!
11:03He was an excellent runner.
11:04And so they took advantage of that and had a good running game.
11:07They could flip it to the half back and he's going to draw attention.
11:11And all of a sudden you hand it to Jerry Rice and he got a chance for a big plug.
11:14He would just beg every year for the reverse pass.
11:19I think we actually let him throw it once and it was not pretty.
11:22Horrible throw!
11:25No one mastered trickery more than the man in the funny hat.
11:29Tom loved his trick plus.
11:31He called them gadgets.
11:33Loved them.
11:34Loved his gadgets.
11:36Tom Landry might have a gadget that he might want to use.
11:38In addition to inventing the 4-3 and flex defenses, Tom Landry brought innovation to the reverse.
11:45Theirs are pretty.
11:46It just seemed like the ball was even lighter when they flicked it back and forth to each other.
11:50There was a magic that they had.
11:53Touchdown Cowboys!
11:55I don't remember seeing anybody do a kickoff return reverse before Tom.
12:01That was kind of typical Landry.
12:05Reverse!
12:07So how did President Richard Nixon get the nickname Tricky Dick?
12:11Maybe it was his infatuation with our number 8 play.
12:15Is it legend or is it fact?
12:17That's the question you have to ask yourself.
12:19Did President Nixon call George Allen and suggest a play?
12:22The President had Etienne I over with Mr. Agnew.
12:26And the play was a reverse.
12:28If you win 3 out of 4, you could make the playoffs.
12:30We could.
12:31Yeah.
12:32Richard Nixon did suggest to George Allen that he do it.
12:35And George Allen put the play in the game plan.
12:39He didn't fool anybody.
12:40It was humiliating.
12:42We don't have any excuses.
12:43We lost to a better football team.
12:52I feel like it could be lower because they kind of figured it out.
13:01But the people who made it famous, they got to figure it out.
13:05Wildcat!
13:06Wildcat!
13:07Ronnie Brown will take the direct snap.
13:09He fixed the handoff.
13:10If you're not aware what's going on, you get lost.
13:15What's going on?
13:16What's going on?
13:17Let's call the Wildcat!
13:18What is that?
13:19And you saw the Dolphins pull this thing out of their back pocket and everyone was stunned.
13:24Wildcat!
13:25Wildcat, that's our playbook now.
13:27And all of a sudden, everybody had to have the Wildcat formation.
13:33In week three of the 2008 season, our number seven trick play of all time made a mockery of one
13:39of the NFL's most respected franchises.
13:42He's going to stack this back to Ronnie Brown.
13:44Hand it to Ricky.
13:45Oh, yeah!
13:46Oh, yeah!
13:47He walks to the end zone!
13:48Again, Ronnie Brown will take a direct snap.
13:51Runs to the right.
13:52Oh, yeah!
13:52Into the end zone!
13:53Touchdown, Dolphins!
13:54Are you kidding me?
13:55The England Patriots have no idea what hit him!
13:59Great!
13:59The Patriots preach situational football.
14:02All I want to do is create different situations, keep them alert, keep them thinking.
14:06They're never not prepared for something as a group.
14:09That's the situation.
14:10I think that day, they were caught flat unaware.
14:13Once again, direct snap to Ronnie Brown, fix it to the left, goes to the right!
14:17I mean, if you do that against some 4-10 team that's ranked 29th in the league defensively and you
14:25have some success, everybody says,
14:26Yeah, well, so what?
14:27But you do it to the Patriots, who were always thought to be one step ahead of everybody and everything.
14:32Ronnie Brown is fourth rushing touchdown of the day!
14:36That will certainly get people's attention.
14:38The curiosity of the Wildcat quickly spread throughout the league.
14:42Not the medalist, Ricky Williams, and he's gone!
14:46Quarterback on the sideline.
14:47Let's do the Wildcat.
14:48Let's see what y'all got.
14:49Let's do the Wildcat.
14:50Wildcat formation.
14:52Wildcat personnel.
14:53Wildcat offense again.
14:55That whole thing works on breaking all the blocking rules, all the quarterback rules that you have in the NFL.
15:01Because there's at least one unblocked man.
15:05That play's gonna go on what's gonna happen on the play.
15:08That's where it's gonna be!
15:10Whatever it takes!
15:13The thing about the Wildcat when it was run against the Patriots is,
15:17they treated it like it was the newest, most innovative thing that had ever happened.
15:23The Wildcat's been around for a long time.
15:25It's not more than a wing tee.
15:26A version of the old single wing.
15:28It's a single wing formation, basically, that was adapted for the pro set.
15:32That's why the first time around, they didn't know who to take the pitch guy.
15:35They didn't know who to take the quarterback.
15:36They didn't set the edge.
15:37They got carved up.
15:39Holy Fanoli!
15:40A few months later, they came back and they said,
15:42well, it's just the option, guys.
15:43Play it like they're running the option.
15:45Boom. Dead.
15:46This afternoon, eight Wildcat formation plays, 26 yards.
15:51Unfortunately, like most things, it ended up being just a fad and didn't last very long.
15:55That was like the Rubik's Cube of offenses, right?
15:57And like for a while, everybody had a Rubik's Cube.
15:59And then for a while, everybody had the Wildcat offense.
16:02And then all of a sudden, like one day, everybody went,
16:04this was stupid.
16:05Whose idea was this?
16:09Although the Wildcat currently resides in the NFL's endangered species list,
16:14if you're lucky, you might still catch a glimpse of the number seven trick play of all time.
16:20Touchdown!
16:21He lined up in the Wildcat formation.
16:23It hibernates in certain parts of the season.
16:25It may, you know, come out for a little food here and there.
16:28Wildcat!
16:29Wildcat!
16:30Wildcat!
16:31It was exactly what it was.
16:32It was an element of surprise device that if you had the right players,
16:35you could have some success with.
16:37Ricky Williams, show us the big S on your chest.
16:40For a while there, it was kind of all the rage in the NFL.
16:43So yeah, I mean, for those reasons, it certainly belongs on the list.
16:47The number six trick play of all time.
16:50Send in the fridge.
16:52Well, he was a huge man.
16:55And the thing you lose sight of is that he's very quick for such a big man.
16:59Is that really a trick play?
17:02It's just a handoff to a guy at a different position than what the position he usually plays.
17:12It's a handoff of the middle.
17:13The fridge became a fullback and carried the ball in short yardage situations.
17:20Harry May revolutionized short yardage offense.
17:23The fridge was a freak of nature.
17:25A guy who was 700 pounds who could still move and had nimble feet.
17:29I'm known for making larger than life things disappear.
17:31It was unbelievable!
17:33Are you kidding me?
17:34I'd like to see what I could do with William and the refrigerator Perry.
17:40David Copperfield certainly would have his hands full with this behemoth.
17:44But it was actually a football wizard who started the refrigerator phenomenon.
17:50Well, Mike, did you put him in an office?
17:52Yeah, I think the 49ers did that the previous year in the 84 NFC Championship.
18:10The 49ers were on their way to a shutout victory during the 1984 NFC Championship when Bill Walsh sent in
18:18his elephant formation.
18:20The 49ers put a big guy in the backfield the year they beat us in the championship game out there.
18:25And the score was pretty much out of sight.
18:28And I said, well, you know, and I forgive. I just don't forget.
18:31Ditka would get even the following season when his elephant-like memory introduced the world to a rookie nicknamed the
18:39refrigerator.
18:40He's got a good stance.
18:41The handoff Perry hammering to the left side of the line.
18:43And Williams out to the 41-yard line.
18:46An impressive victory for the Chicago Bears over the San Francisco 49ers.
18:50And then against the Green Bay Packers, Ditka took it to the next level.
18:53Handoff to Perry.
18:54Crashes the right side of the line. Touchdown!
18:57The legend continues.
18:59William Perry on a one-yard touchdown run.
19:02The refrigerator.
19:07Our number six trick play of all time has less to do with deception as it has to do with
19:13plain old-fashioned physics.
19:16What do I do with this?
19:19Man, oh, Manischewitz.
19:21This is coming right at me.
19:22And there's just nothing you can do about it.
19:24First and goal to go.
19:26Oh, my.
19:27Hands in behind the refrigerator.
19:29And this crowd loves it.
19:31Just up, boom.
19:32Just falling around here.
19:34Touchdown!
19:34You know, he's probably a better fullback than he was a defensive lineman.
19:38But he sure got a lot of recognition.
19:40Fires the right side.
19:41Oh!
19:41Oh, he got it!
19:42A pass to a 308-pound receiver.
19:45The refrigerator evidently can do it all.
19:48Well, the fridge, I mean, I don't know how many people did that before the fridge.
19:51But now you see it occasionally with B.J. Raji.
19:54B.J. Raji in at fullback.
19:56Football may be the one few places where everybody loves the fat guy.
20:00Elephant 88.
20:01Elephant.
20:02Good B.J. not in the school.
20:03Hand off.
20:04Goes to B.J. Raji.
20:06Touchdown!
20:08You look like the fridge out there.
20:11In the freezer.
20:13Damn, dog.
20:14Yeah, you look natural back there.
20:16In the freezer, baby.
20:20Refrigerator Perry, he's my main man.
20:23If he can get us to the Super Bowl, nobody cares.
20:26He is still a king in Chicago.
20:29I mean, you do not speak ill of the fridge.
20:33By the end of the 1985 season,
20:36even the NFL's biggest stage had to make room for our number six trick play of all time.
20:41First and goal from the one-yard line.
20:43Hand off to the fridge.
20:44To the end.
20:45Yes, William Perry has scored on a one-yard touchdown run in the Super Bowl.
20:51We love watching fat people do anything athletic
20:53because at the end of the day, it's fun.
20:57William Perry on 315 pounds lining up.
21:01Excuse me for laughing in your ear or whatever you did.
21:03It was up there.
21:05Watching him makes people feel like I don't have to be this picture of beauty.
21:08And what a day for William Perry.
21:12And now, the number five trick play of all time.
21:15The surprise on-site game.
21:18The element of surprise is what makes life interesting.
21:21Magic thrives in surprises.
21:23Surprise on-site.
21:24He's really doing it.
21:26Sometimes a trick can be risky to perform.
21:28The rewards are well worth it.
21:30By the time you see it, maybe first play of the game,
21:32maybe first play of the second half.
21:34That's when you can make a play like that work
21:36and have it be a game-changing momentum type play.
21:38It's all in scouting.
21:40It's all in timing.
21:41And it's all in execution.
21:43Well executed play.
21:44Whenever you're talking about a fake play,
21:45that means that you gotta act a little bit.
21:48Most of them over act.
21:49They try to be like,
21:50oh, I'm not kicking the ball on sides here.
21:53It takes a lot of poise.
21:54Almost a zen moment for a kicker.
21:56That's the way you start a football game.
21:58When it is expected, it's about 20% effective.
22:01When it is not expected, it's about 60% effective.
22:05It deserves some attention, and it deserves to be higher up the list.
22:10If we kick off here, I'm an on-site kick.
22:13Every NFL coach may have our number five trick up their sleeve.
22:18But in different varieties.
22:19A lot of times, it's what your guy can do.
22:22What your kicker can do.
22:23You've seen him fake one way and turn around and dribble it.
22:26Is that beautiful?
22:27I still like the one, the big bounce one,
22:29where you hit it in a quick bounce and it pops up.
22:32They drive it into the ground, pop it up in the air.
22:34You want it to go basically 11 yards.
22:37Just what the doctor ordered.
22:38And then the ball's in the air long enough
22:40for your guys to get down there and block them.
22:41Oh, was that a thing of beauty?
22:44And if they spread out both sides,
22:45he's got to be able to run the old watermelon bunt, we call it,
22:48right up the middle.
22:49How did he come up with that?
22:51I would not recommend doing the one that Kansas City did on us.
22:54The ball one, I think.
22:55Like...
22:59It was taught to me years and years ago by Tony Franklin.
23:03The old barefoot kicker.
23:05I tried to get every guy...
23:09Really nicely executed play.
23:12Nobody did it better than Morton Anderson.
23:13He was the first guy that ever saw it.
23:15I saw the ball and go,
23:16what did he do?
23:17You know, I said, let me see that again.
23:19Morton Anderson did a great job with it.
23:21They kind of want to get the credit for it.
23:23I'm going to take the credit and give it to a Lindo.
23:26Boy, that is...
23:30Our number five trick plays security's place on the countdown
23:34by being successfully executed on the grandest of stages.
23:38I'm going on side here.
23:40Molly Bailey in the back.
23:42In Super Bowl XXX, the Steelers snuck one past the Cowboys.
23:46Steelers try an outside kick.
23:47And they get it!
23:48First score!
23:50But still lost the game.
23:52Fourteen years later...
23:53The Saints had a different outcome.
23:56About ten minutes into halftime, you know,
23:58we said, hey, this is what we're going to do to start the second half.
24:01I'm in the locker room and everybody says,
24:02oh yeah, yeah, I want to do it, you know.
24:04Well, I'm the secondary coach against Peyton Manning.
24:06I'm thinking, oh my gosh, we better get it.
24:09We've got to recover the onside kick, boys.
24:12Morstead steps into the football and it's an onside kick.
24:16We got it! We got it! We got it!
24:18They're still fighting for it!
24:20One ball! One ball! One ball!
24:24Sean Peyton opening up the second half, onside kick.
24:28That, to me, turned that game around.
24:30The number four trick play of all time, the Flea Clicker.
24:35Yes!
24:36Most people don't like the Flea Flicker.
24:37They think it's too risky.
24:38I like it because you got guys charging up
24:40and the next thing you know, they're looking over their shoulder
24:41and you see somebody going over behind them.
24:43They go, oh no.
24:45You give him the ball to the half-back,
24:46he flips it back to the quarterback.
24:48By then, your guy should have a really good head start.
24:50It should work a lot.
24:52Breeze, pitch back, Flea Flicker.
24:54Flea Flicker!
24:55Throws it down.
24:56Yeah!
24:57Make sure you sell it!
24:58Be an actor!
25:00You know some actresses, right?
25:01The reason why you run it is because you see everybody folding inside
25:04to try to stop the run.
25:05It's all predicated on previous plays.
25:07What a car!
25:08You run a play that looks like every other running play you run,
25:10and all of a sudden, the guy pitches it back to the quarterback.
25:12You have to make sure you have your blocking straight
25:16or your running back's going to get killed
25:18right in the middle of his spine.
25:21It's going to work almost every time.
25:23That looks like something out of a video!
25:30Our number four trick play may be commonplace in the NFL's game,
25:34but its name is certainly unique.
25:37What is that?
25:38Like you're flicking, a flea flick?
25:40Well it doesn't, the name is not, it definitely sounds going to happen.
25:43It sounds ridiculously sexual.
25:44Did you pull that flea flicker out last week?
25:47I know I did.
25:48Maybe it was a little running back that was running the ball,
25:51maybe it was a little guy, maybe his nickname was the flea.
25:53He ran into the line of scrimmage and he flicked it back to the quarterback,
25:57and that became a great play for him.
25:59Can you believe that?
26:00Bob Zupke coined not only the term, but the idea of using the flea flicker,
26:04and he called it that because he wanted to think of it as a quick play
26:08like a dog shaking his body to get the fleas off his back.
26:10Right on the money.
26:12I don't know how that translates to what the flea flicker on the field actually looks like,
26:16but that's where it comes from allegedly.
26:21Maddie back to Morrill on the flea flicker.
26:24In the Super Bowl, the flea flicker bugged offenses more often than defenses.
26:29It is perfect!
26:30Until Super Bowl XXI.
26:32Good afternoon from the Rose Bowl.
26:34I just went, oh, this is perfect.
26:36I was expecting it when they came in, I said, this is perfect.
26:39Pitch, Horst, turns around, back to Sims, on the flea flicker.
26:42Sims is looking way downfield, he's got a receiver!
26:44It was, like, one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in my life
26:48because they were turning and running in different directions
26:50and bumping into each other when they got caught.
26:53I knew the game was over once I hit that.
26:57You're basically grabbing the ball and you're tossing it back to the quarterback.
27:00I mean, how much trouble is that?
27:02You're tossing the ball back and, oh, hey, all of a sudden,
27:05like, he's not actually running and he's gonna throw it.
27:07You expect it to work and the quarterback overthrows the guy.
27:10One hard play!
27:11It doesn't even work in tech mobile.
27:12You get the ball, one guy throws it to the other.
27:15Pretty bad right there.
27:15By that time, you got about four linemen coming at the quarterback.
27:19It goes from bad to worse.
27:21Have you seen that play work at all?
27:24You need to do it a little bit too much.
27:26It doesn't work very well.
27:27Perhaps the most famous flea flicker was one that didn't work.
27:33My career, if a team runs a flea flicker,
27:36it ought to be a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty,
27:40and you should suspend the person for a week that called the play.
27:47The number three trick play of all time, lateral.
27:51The single greatest trick play in NFL history
27:54is that hook and ladder in the Miami-San Diego game.
27:57The lateral back at the 20, the 10, the 5,
28:00into the end zone, touchdown!
28:02I always look at the lateral as maybe an end of the game thing.
28:05It's caught!
28:06There goes the back!
28:08Into the end zone!
28:09More teams ought to use the lateral in the kickoff!
28:11He throws it across the field, the dice, and he's got something.
28:14Yeah, my favorite lateral is the Music City miracle.
28:16You've got to be on the lookout for that stuff in that situation!
28:24The lateral isn't only the number three trick play of all time,
28:28but it's also the main component of one of the most famous
28:31and most controversial plays in NFL history.
28:35It's a miracle!
28:38Tennessee has pulled a miracle!
28:41This is a forward pass!
28:43This is not a lateral!
28:45When you see it, you're like,
28:46oh, that's not a lateral, that's a forward pass.
28:48You know, you've got to study it from all these different angles
28:50to see if they got it right.
28:51But this was perfectly executed,
28:53and to my dismay, I'm a Buffalo Bills fan,
28:56it was a lateral.
28:57After reviewing the play, the ruling on the field stands,
29:00it was a lateral.
29:03And if you're a Bills fan and you live to be 100,
29:06you will never forget that play.
29:09That was sweet now.
29:11That was the dangest thing I ever saw.
29:13I still don't think it was a lateral.
29:17The lateral is just filled with surprises.
29:20Just ask the 2003 Saints,
29:22who thought this once-in-a-lifetime play
29:25was going to send the game into overtime.
29:28And he's got a chance!
29:29That is a couple of blocks,
29:31ladders it over to Michael Wilkes!
29:35Back to McAllister!
29:37Still alive!
29:39And they've got it!
29:412-0!
29:418-0 with the touchdown!
29:438-0 into the end zone for the touchdown!
29:45Oh, the New Orleans Saints will get a chance to celebrate
29:48if...
29:49They make the...
29:50John Cardi...
29:50Hold it, yes!
29:52He gets older to hold it.
29:54And he missed it!
29:56They missed the end report.
29:59So after all that drama,
30:02the Jaguars still win the ball game.
30:07Coaches may be weary of our number three trick play of all time
30:11because of its unpredictability,
30:13but that's exactly why laterals can have game-changing results.
30:18Touchdown!
30:19You've got to be kidding me!
30:20I'm surprised the lateral hasn't become more mainstream at this point.
30:24Because...
30:27You find a teammate and you're about to get tackled.
30:30Oh, there...
30:31There's the ball.
30:32I think the next step in the evolution of football would be
30:35let's incorporate some tosses and pitchbacks into this.
30:38I think he might roll it off to Rob Dixon.
30:40Because if defense has ever had to start preparing for the lateral consistently,
30:44everybody becomes a timid tackler at that point.
30:47It's a throw near side Smith.
30:48Now he throws the ball on the reverse.
30:50If you want to break down a defense,
30:52start becoming a team that laterals all the time.
30:54Some team will do it at some point.
30:55It might be 50 years, but the team that does it will change the game.
31:03The number two trick play of all time.
31:06The tackle eligible.
31:09People like to see big fat guys score touchdowns.
31:13They do!
31:13Let's be honest.
31:14This is their one chance to shine.
31:16They sneak out there.
31:17Nobody's expecting it.
31:19Built like a Mack truck, but he traveled pretty swiftly.
31:21An offensive tackle doesn't make a touchdown every day out there.
31:24They're kind of stumble bums to begin with, and their ability to catch the ball is really nil.
31:31It's not like a fat kid running a race.
31:32You want him to win.
31:33It's like the underdog.
31:34You're like, go!
31:35It looks like he's having a very hard time.
31:37Makes an unbelievably athletic play.
31:43The NFL has strict rules that have to be followed to pull off our number two play.
31:48You have to declare yourself eligible.
31:50You've got to go to the umpire.
31:51You know, tell them that you're eligible on the play because you don't have an eligible number.
31:54You're eligible!
31:56You're eligible!
31:56You're eligible!
31:57Any player with the numbers 50 through 79 and 90 through 99 has to declare to be an eligible receiver.
32:06Report! Report!
32:0873!
32:1073 is an eligible receiver.
32:12Down there, you're expecting, first of all, the run.
32:15You bring in an extra tackle.
32:16Lima coming in.
32:17And now, all of a sudden, you fake that run and they take your eyes off of you.
32:21I gotta love it!
32:22I've been to tackle eligible before.
32:24This tackle eligible play was a neat trick that transformed lineman Brian Baldinger, number 62, into a pass catcher.
32:32To this day, it's my greatest play in the history of my career.
32:3537 yards.
32:36I led the league that year in yards per catch.
32:40Ha ha!
32:41Tackle eligible.
32:43Ooh.
32:44You have all these fast receivers.
32:46I mean, so what do I?
32:49Throw into a tackle.
32:51Man, think about that.
32:53That's a waste of time.
32:54To use a trick play with a tackle trying to catch the ball.
32:57Anything but that.
32:59I wouldn't have that on the list.
33:01Ha ha!
33:03They tell you when they come in and-
33:06Wait!
33:07They gonna try something tricky!
33:09Like having a, literally a discussion on the pitcher's mound on the first baseman.
33:12It's like, I'm gonna take the ball over here.
33:14We're gonna do the hidden ball trick, okay?
33:18I'm eligible to do the hidden ball trick.
33:20I'm not saying it's gonna happen.
33:21He's eligible.
33:21Just saying that like-
33:22It could happen.
33:23It's something I could do right now.
33:27Nothing was better than Jumbo Elliott catching their pass in the Monday Night Miracle.
33:32Jumbo!
33:33Jumbo!
33:33Jumbo!
33:34The Doffers took a 30-7 lead at the end of the third quarter.
33:37I don't know what's up, man.
33:38Especially when it's like this.
33:39Quarterback Jay Fiedler walks over to Jason Taylor and says,
33:42This game is over.
33:43They ain't coming back on up.
33:44No, come on now.
33:45No, no.
33:46Never say that.
33:47The Jets erased the huge deficit thanks to one Jumbo player.
33:52I don't expect Jay Fiedler to sound like that.
33:55When I saw the play, I was like, is he really gonna throw that to him?
33:58Touchdown to Jumbo Elliott!
34:01That ball's coming and the world stopped.
34:03See, anybody who's still left watching the game.
34:06Big man almost dropped.
34:07He thought it was a hamburger!
34:09He caught it.
34:10He caught it again and he caught it for the third time laying down on the ground.
34:13It's the first change of his career!
34:16We all like to think we're athletes.
34:19So, you know, we'll take any chance we can get to showcase that talent.
34:24Now, the number one trick play of all time.
34:27The half-bat option pass.
34:30In slow motion, you're watching Jimmy Brown throw his only pass of the year.
34:35Off of play-pass action, Brown arches the ball to Gary Collins for a touchdown.
34:42Touchdown!
34:43The half-back option pass.
34:45Catch back to LG.
34:47Look in the throw!
34:47He's getting...
34:49Down!
34:51Every running back wants to show that there are more than just a running back.
34:54That they can be...
34:54Firstly, I think of Tom Matty and Paul Horning who were quarterbacks in college.
34:59Be a quarterback as well.
35:00Oh, they give it to the first...
35:01He throws a touchdown pass!
35:02You know, I told Ben, you know, I saw what he saw, you know.
35:06I found a way to get it to him.
35:08Ha-ha!
35:10A pass and play hidden inside of a running play is what makes the half-back option pass so deceptive
35:18and the number one trick play of all time.
35:21Quick pitch.
35:22Goes to Westbrook.
35:23He's looking to throw it over.
35:24He's looking to throw it over.
35:25He's trying to...
35:25Brian Westbrook on a half-back pass!
35:28It's all about selling the run.
35:31You gotta be an actor.
35:32You gotta really sell it.
35:34You gotta, you know, you gotta catch the ball and tuck it away and, you know, the first two
35:37steps, it's gotta be like, you're gonna go turn the corner, you know, and then bam.
35:41LT's gonna throw it, looking to the end zone, and he's got his man!
35:48Naturally, the best players in the game have been the ones to pull off the best trick play.
35:54What makes the play work is the success of the running game.
35:58There have been some guys who have run the half-back option who've been just outstanding at it.
36:03Jim Brown swings wide as if to run, drifts back, and fires a long strike to Renfro.
36:09Of course, Marcus Allen was great at it.
36:11Jensen in motion all the way across.
36:13Quick toss to Allen.
36:14Stakes left, comes back right, throwing deep.
36:16Preston's an open!
36:17Makes the catch at the five!
36:19Touchdown Raiders!
36:21The team that ran it the best was Green Bay, and it was because they had Horning there.
36:25Number five is the golden boy, Paul Horning.
36:28Yeah, because Horning was a quarterback in college, and a great running back.
36:32And certainly a guy that when he got outside, you had to respect his ability to run the football.
36:36And he could throw the ball accurately.
36:37Paul Horning is fast becoming one of the league's best all-around back.
36:42The person who made it look easy was LaDainian Thomason.
36:46Flip back to LT looking to throw!
36:48Headzone!
36:48Wide open!
36:49Touchdown!
36:50He's done it again!
36:51He's phenomenal, and he does it around the goal line as well, which, that's a condensed area.
36:55He has to throw into a little bit of coverage just based on the amount of field space available.
37:00LT's quarterback rating remains perfect, 158.3.
37:08One half running and one half throwing.
37:11The half-back option pass completes our countdown of football's greatest trick plays.
37:17You know what?
37:18I'm on board with number one is the half-back option pass.
37:20It's a good number one.
37:21Especially for me.
37:22I caught two of them from Curtis.
37:26Escoverti hands to Martin with a half-back option.
37:28He's got Trevet in the end zone.
37:30Touchdown!
37:31If you watch the Tampa game, when he comes out of the huddle and he's taking off his running
37:36back gloves, the ads are going through the cadence, and then he drops it on the ground,
37:41then he gives them the ball, and then he throws the pass.
37:42And the New York Jets, who are dead and buried, have come back to take the lead.
37:48To win on a play like that, that's got to hurt for the other team.
37:51When you can fool someone into underestimating what is possible and what isn't possible,
37:55this is when you can really surprise.
37:57Once the defense is convinced the running back is going to run with the ball,
38:00it's only natural for them to be caught off guard when he throws it.
38:03And it's thrown and a cut for the Steelers at back option pass. Touchdown!
38:10Keeping an audience happy may be the greatest trick of all,
38:14and our countdown has its fair share of critics.
38:17I am surprised by the half-back option as the number one trick play.
38:21I thought the flea flicker would be the number one trick play.
38:25I kind of like the fake field goal for number one.
38:26I think the wildcat is more of a gimmick than a trick play.
38:31Come on, how are you going to trick somebody with a guy big as a refrigerator?
38:34I rate that as a non-trick play.
38:37They're your first two. Do not belong on the list.
38:40I love this show. I love doing this show.
38:45I love doing this show.
38:47I love doing this show.
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