But you can drop a lateral -- not even cleanly catch it -- and it's still a live ball. In fact, the ball bounced on the ground at least once. They could have tried that a thousand times and not succeeded again.
I don't actually understand why more teams don't employ this tactic. They are the only legal passes in rugby and I think the first American football team that studies rugby tactics could be very difficult to beat. I wish some enterprising football coach would try melding the two together. As the video shows, it makes the game more exciting and it could reduce the relentless stop-and-go that characterizes your average football game.
Likewise, I think American football players would probably make good rugby players. It would be fun if a retired NFL player or undrafted College player tried his hand at rugby overseas. I think they could be reasonably successful if they can get their endurance up. Of course, it would help dispell the wimpy image American football players are unfairly saddled with in the rugby-playing nations, too.
Queequeq,
See -- I didn't know you could drop the ball and pick it up again.
I love it. Only makes the moral of the story better.
I invite everyone to not only attempt their own rewriting of the call to get the correct number of laterals and passes and in the correct order -- which I will ignore -- but to get a moral in there which includes dropped balls -- which I shall also ignore.
Cool. I like it.
As a Trinity Alum.....Go Tigers!! What a finish!
It's great to see them getting all the highlight plays.....all over everywhere.....the kids are so proud.
More fun than the Great Stanford-Cal Lateral Funfest (albeit without the trombone player getting savaged at the end).
A coworker here is a trinity alum, guess this play got them to the playoffs...good for them.
Billy Joe: american football players. espicaly in the pros are too smart adn too fast for this to work more thean once in a blue moon...every lateral is a risk, it could easily get intercepted, or droped and picked up by the wrong team...morover with the speed of soem of the colisions you can't gaurentee that you will have aq chance to tackle. Some team eve ntrain to tackel the ball not the ball carrier so they will be hitting your arnm as you try to lateral.
A play liek this may work once or twice a year but thats it...and those tiems it shear dumb luck.
in my own (limited) experience of watching rugby with a bunch of americans in the room, we all moaned about the rugby players' complete inability to make a move on a defender, even something as small as a head fake; we thought that would make rugby much more interesting.
According to my rugby playing daughter, you only try to fake a defender when you can get away clean. Otherwise the idea is to be tackled in a position where you can release the ball to a team mate.
moonglum, everyone else,
I agree. Rugby doesn't translate to American football directly. The hits in American football are definitely harder and the field itself may actually be larger.
But, if you were down by 5 points or less in a game, couldn't you just put all of your players on the left hand side of the field and just run up in phalanx formation? No one would expect it and you could probably make it work. Granted, maybe once a year, but I think football affords occasional opportunities that could be exploited by a team that's more 'well-rounded' (I guess).
Is that crazy?
BTW, this does occasionally happen as The Wanderer points out above. Football falls into patterns and a team that can completely throw everyone off could do reasonably well. For a season or two, anyway.
Billy Joe: it may work onece in a while...hell the falcons used a single wing last year for a play and I saw the vikeing do a hook and lader. but its very high risk. NFL teams are so close in talent, so fast, so aware of the game that gimmik plays don't work often...they don't work vs ths best teams at all (too much disiplin, they all stay on their assingments, a play like the multi lateral gamrs require the defense to overcomit on stopeign the ball carrier)
"couldn't you just put all of your players on the left hand side of the field and just run up in phalanx formation?"
There's actually a very rare formation that's kind of like this: it's called the "Lonesome Polecat." Basically, the center lines up alone over the ball, with the quarterback behind him in shotgun formation. All the other lineman (6, so including the tight end) line up all the way on one side of the field with the fullback behind them. Two receivers fill flanker/slot positions on the other side. Interestingly, the center is eligible to receive a pass in this formation. Generally, teams using this (and when they do, it's only as a novelty/trick) will first throw the ball to the fullback, and then start throwing to the center and two flankers. I once saw this (in person) at a New Jersey Generals game--that's the old USFL for those who don't know. I don't think they did that much with it, but it was lots of fun to watch.
Whoooowweeee!!! Millsaps College?!?! So this is what happens to you when you screw up the coaching job at the University Of Alabama!!!
R-O-L-L Trinity!!
Oh Ma Goodness! More laterals than The Play (Cal vs Stanford, referenced above). Devastating.
But hey, what's that Pass doing in the middle of the list? Shoulda stopped the play, right? I mean, surely the ball had crossed the line of scrimmage by the time the several preceding laterals had taken place? And surely you can't launder the ball by taking it back across the line so you can pass it forward? (If you could, I could guarantee there'd be an illegal man down field.) Am I missing a rule here?
(IPOF the Stanford crowd have always insisted that one of the laterals in The Play was forward. As the fellow says, if the whistle hasn't blown, keep going, a miracle may happen.)
You should have posted the pre-game Haka, Jesse. :o)
Isn't Rugby a great game? :o)
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