It means that this football play had nothing to do with football other than knowing the rules. Acting is what made the play work. This play = no football skills. Horse/trick shots=nothing you will use in a real game. This will be my last comment on this: if a kid can strap on a helmet they should be able to handle a trick play. They should realize that the other team will do whatever they can to win. That may be holding, cheating, trick plays, or whatever, yes some coaches will be jerks about certain things. A trick play is made to trick, decieve, or whatever you want to call it, to get the play to work. This play was not unfair. It was by the rules. The coach yelling is not breaking any rules. To say you can use this play against older kids but not these kids is really not a good argument. That is your only argument when it comes down to it. If they are old enough to play they are old enough to see a trick play. Next you could tell me that you cant use trick plays till the NFL per unspoken rule.
I'll end with this as well. You are correct, there is no football skill involved in this "play." Yet it was used in a football game...how many times are you going to be able to bounce a ball of a wall and make a basket in a real basketball game?
This is not a trick play. He called this play under the pretense that he knew it would only work if he and his players were able to deceive the defense into thinking the play wasn't live. That's not a trick play...that's where the manipulation with the coach yelling comes into play. Also, minor detail, but the play should have been blown dead anyway because the offense only had 6 men on the LOS. We can play with the verbage as much as you like...trick kids with hook and ladders, double passes, and quadruple reverses if you like. This isn't a trick play.
It's legality is in question...there was at least one penalty not called in the illegal formation. The ref, if he feels a team gained an unfair advantage due to aforementioned manipulation, can throw a penalty flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. The fact that they didn't on this play doesn't mean they didn't blow it...or maybe they felt like it was an ok play and just blew the illegal formation call.
You are also right in your point about this being my only argument when it comes to the age discussion. I only think this is abhorrent because of the age group where it's being utilized. If these were older kids, the coach would be scraping his QB off the field with a spatula. But since these are young kids, between his yelling and his players spoken words, he was able to trick/manipulate/deceive the defense into thinking there wasn't a live play.
Old enough for pads, old enough for a trick play? Absolutely...if it's a real trick play. Again, it's not an issue of tricking the opponent on a live ball play. I'm all for that, with the plays I mentioned above. But this isn't the same situation. The coach might be the nicest guy in the world, but this is a real low-class move.
Why would I tell you anything about the NFL and trick plays? You've already stated my only argument was about the age group, so why does anything in the NFL matter? I can't stress enough that I think there is a cavernous gap between a trick play and this nonsense...the NFL can do whatever the he!! they want.
