Five of the Best: NFL/NCAA Trick Plays

By: James Wheeler | Wednesday, June 06, 2012 1:11 PM

This week on Five of the Best we'll mix it up a bit. The NFL is in its off season right now, the draft has come and gone, but here's a reminder of how great NFL / NCAA football can be.

I present to you five of the best trick plays on Youtube in either college ball or the big league. We all love big collision hits and the miracle touchdown passes, but in between you see some cleverness on display from the coaches, who draw up moves that are just completely different and quite fun to watch.

These are in no particular order so sit back and enjoy. Even if you aren't the biggest fan of American football or don't follow it that much I think you'll find these plays entertaining, intelligent and even a bit amusing at times.

5. A.J Trapasso's 40 yd fake punt return in the AFL Legacy Game - Buffalo Bills vs Tennessee Titans - It's not often a kicker makes his way into the end zone for the touchdown but that's exactly what happened here when the Tennessee Titans faked the punt and Trapasso strolled 40 yards and into the endzone. Creativity at its finest.

4. Fake Statue of Liberty Play - The Statue of Liberty, if pulled off correctly, can fool almost anybody. Obviously it gets its name from the statue, but why? It all comes down to the positioning of the quarterback. If he's done the move correctly, just before he hands the ball off he'll have one hand in the air and one by his side ala the Statue of Liberty. In this case he reads the defense and just rushes the endzone.

3. Cam Newton's Fumblerooski play - Cam Newton was the #1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and made a splash in his debut season for the Carolina Panthers. He led them to a 6-10 season, much improved on the 2-14 season a year prior. In this play he pulls off a variation of the famous Fumblerooski or sometimes called the Bumerooski

2. Hidden Ball Trick by the Florida Gators -Coach Steve Spurrier drew this one up and it's a beauty. I dare you to try and follow this one the first time you view it. It may not have gained as many yards as these other plays, but it certainly warrants selection on the creativity alone.

1. The Miracle in Mississippi (Lateralpalooza) - Trinity v Millsaps - 15 lateral passes and 61-yards later, Trinity steals this game in incredible fashion. Not a coach's drawing board in sight, it was just improvisation and innovation at the dying stages. You won't believe your eyes at this.

Because I'm feeling generous, here are three more for you:

BONUS: The Music City Miracle - Here's one of the best trick play finishes to an NFL game ever and one of the more controversial. It's the 'Music City Miracle' between the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills. The play in question was a 75-yard kickoff return dubbed 'The Home Run Throwback', which was a play designed specifically for this situation, when the team was down and knew the defense was going to kick a line drive downfield.

BONUS: New England Patriots 2007 - Flea Flicker and modified Statue of Liberty - The 2007 New England Patriots went 16-0 during the regular season. They were a superb team and were one game away from a perfect season overall. Unfortunately they came up short at the big dance - The Superbowl. The New York Giants beat them 17-14 that day. During that season there were some memorable plays. Take these two trick plays for example, the Flea Flicker and a modified version of the Statue of Liberty - this time the move actually gets pulled off and you can see what I meant by the positioning of the arm.

BONUS: Finally, it's 'The Play' - The famous ending to the 1982 Big Game between California and Stanford. FIVE lateral passes and he runs through the band as well, which had come onto the field because they thought the game was over. No extravagant timeout and huddle where the play gets drawn up, just desperation, a bit of luck and a bit of skill combined for a classic passage of play.