InAmerican football, ahandoff is the act of handing the ball directly from one player to another, i. e. without it leaving the first player's hands.[1] Mostrushing plays on offense begin with a handoff from thequarterback to anotherrunning back. The biggest risk with any hand-off is the chance offumble on the exchange.[2] A hand-off can occur in any direction. It is sometimes called a "switch" in touch football, and alternately spelled without the hyphen; i.e., "handoff".