Trick Play - Famous Trick Plays

Famous Trick Plays

• In the Music City Miracle, the Tennessee Titans used a kickoff return play containing two designed backward passes, one traveling nearly the width of the field, to defeat the Buffalo Bills in a 2000 NFL wild card playoff game.
• The Boise State Broncos famously used three trick plays in rapid succession near the end of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl to pull off a 43-42 victory over Oklahoma. The three plays were a hook-and-lateral play, a wide receiver option, and a Statue of Liberty play.
• The Nebraska Cornhuskers scored a famous touchdown in the 1984 Orange Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes on a fumblerooski play. The ball was deliberately left sitting on the field during a fake sweep, allowing Nebraska lineman Dean Steinkuhler to surreptitiously pick it up and run unchallenged towards the endzone. The play has subsequently been banned at most levels of competitive football.
• On December 18, 2011, the Carolina Panthers ran the trick play "Annexation of Puerto Rico" against the Houston Texans scoring a touchdown on the play. The play was based on a similar play from the 1994 film Little Giants. However, unlike the film which used a fumblerooski (illegal in the NFL), quarterback Cam Newton lined up next to fullback Richie Brockel, surreptitiously handing the ball to the fullback through his legs. Newton rolled right pretending to still be holding the ball, while Brockel immediately turned left and ran in for a touchdown while the defenders followed Newton.