A typical football defense is very aggressive to the run, and the flea flicker uses that against them. The play is designed to draw the defense into defending against a run and away from defending a pass, leaving the quarterback free from any immediatepass rush, and leaving receivers potentially open to catch a pass as their covering defenders may have moved off the pass looking to tackle a ball carrier. The elaborate back-and-forth with the ball also gives time for receivers to get downfield, opening up an opportunity for a long completion.
Like most other types of trick plays, the play is very risky. Despite the potential for a very big play when running a flea flicker, the play takes a long time to develop, meaning it often ends in disaster when run against a strong pass rush.
On the play, Britton lined up as a kicker, with Grange as holder. After the snap, Britton threw the ball to Kassel, who then lateraled to Grange; Grange proceeded to score a touchdown on a 20-yard run.[7]
January 12, 1969: InSuper Bowl III, with theBaltimore Colts trailing theNew York Jets 7-0 just before halftime, the Colts attempted a flea flicker. Despite the fact thatJimmy Orr was wide open near the end zone,Earl Morrall threw the ball to fullbackJerry Hill, only for JetssafetyJim Hudson to intercept the pass. During a regular-season game against theAtlanta Falcons, Morrall used the same play and was able to find Orr for a touchdown.
January 30, 1983: In the final quarter ofSuper Bowl XVII, theWashington Redskins were trailing theMiami Dolphins 17-13 when they attempted a flea flicker, which they had successfully used in the Divisional Round against the Minnesota Vikings. Mindful of the ruse, Miami defensive backLyle Blackwood intercepted the pass; however, Washington coachJoe Gibbs later pointed out the play was not a total loss, as Blackwood was downed on his own 1-yard line. Washington ended up forcing Miami to punt from deep in their own territory and got the ball back on their 48-yard line, setting up a touchdown drive.
November 18, 1985: On a nationally televisedMonday Night Football game between the Washington Redskins and theNew York Giants, the score was tied 7-7 in the second quarter when the Redskins attempted a flea flicker. The play failed to trick the Giants' defense, which had the blitz on, and longtime Redskins quarterbackJoe Theismann infamously suffered a career-ending injury after beingsacked by Giants linebackerLawrence Taylor: as Taylor tackled Theismann to make the sack, his entire weight came crashing down on Theismann's right leg, breaking it in two places.[8]
January 25, 1987: InSuper Bowl XXI, the New York Giants successfully ran a flea flicker play against theDenver Broncos: quarterbackPhil Simms passed the ball to receiverPhil McConkey, who ran all the way to the Broncos' 1-yard line before being tackled for a 44-yard gain. The Giants scored a touchdown on the next play.
November 9, 1994: In the television showBeverly Hills, 90210, Season 05, Episode 10, "The Dreams of Dylan McKay,"Steve Sanders uses the Flea Flicker play he learned from his father to win an intramural college flag football tournament.
January 3, 2009: During theNFC Wild Card,Kurt Warner successfully completed a flea flicker against theAtlanta Falcons with running backEdgerrin James and wide receiverLarry Fitzgerald. Warner and theArizona Cardinals were finding early success running the ball in the first quarter of the game, so Warner handed the ball off to James, who ran about two yards towards the line of scrimmage and then turned and pitched the football back five yards to Warner. The pitch was almost unseen as the safeties and linebackers had their views blocked by the defensive line, which was collapsing on the running play. The play ended with a 50-yard pass (42 yards officially, from the original line of scrimmage) to Fitzgerald, who jumped backwards in the air while in double-coverage to make the catch in the front left corner of the endzone for the touchdown, which helped the Cardinals to take an early 7–0 lead, and ultimately win their first playoff game in ten years (it was also their first home playoff game in 61 years, when they were based in Chicago).
January 18, 2009: In theNFC Championship Game, Kurt Warner successfully completed a flea flicker play against thePhiladelphia Eagles with running backJ.J. Arrington and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Warner passed to Arrington, who lateraled back to him before Warner completed a 62-yard pass to Fitzgerald to score a touchdown, which helped the Cardinals to increase their lead to 14–3 and win 32–25.
December 4, 2011: In the first game after acquiring quarterbackKyle Orton off waivers,Kansas City Chiefs starterTyler Palko was benched due to ineffectiveness in the beginning of the second quarter in favor of Orton. The first play run for Orton was a designed flea-flicker, butstrong safetyMajor Wright of theChicago Bears struck Orton as he threw, causing the pass to fall incomplete and also injuring Orton's finger, causing him to miss the remainder of the game. The Chiefs ended up winning 10–3.
January 22, 2017: TheNew England Patriots ran a flea flicker 7:07 into the 2nd quarter of theAFC Championship game against thePittsburgh Steelers.Tom Brady handed the ball to running backDion Lewis on what appeared to be a basic run on first-and-10, but as Lewis approached the line of scrimmage, he stopped and pitched the ball back to Brady, who scanned the field and found a wide-openChris Hogan for a 34-yard pass to score atouchdown and give the Patriots a 17–6 lead. The Patriots won the game 36–17 en route to their fifth Super Bowl Championship.[9]
January 21, 2018: The two Conference Championship games included three successful flea-flickers:
The rise of thespread offense in recent years has led to the rise of the reverse flea flicker (also known as the double reverse flea flicker), which is an extension of both the conventional flea flicker and areverse play. The play starts with the quarterback handing the ball off to another player, usually a running back, who then laterals the ball to a receiver. The receiver then laterals the ball again back to the quarterback, who typically takes a shot deep downfield.
The throwback flea flicker is similar to the original flea flicker, but draws the defense to the outside rather than to the inside. The play typically begins with the quarterback pitching the ball to a running back, who runs outside as if the play were asweep. However, as the ball carrier draws the defense to the outside, he turns and throws a backward pass to the quarterback, often leaving him free of any pass rush when he tries to throw downfield.
