End run

In gridiron football, an end run is a running play in which the player carrying the ball tries to avoid being tackled by running outside the end (or flank) of the offensive line.^[1] It is distinct from a dive, which is a run "up the middle", or an off-tackle run, which is a run through the inside gap created by the offensive tackle. Most option offenses are based on the end run.^[2]

Colloquially, and in a metaphorical sense it has come to mean an attempt to avoid a difficult situation by dodging it without confronting it directly, or to attempt to circumvent someone's authority by appealing to a different authority.^[3] For example, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, William Riker states: "You need to take it to the Captain, fine – through me. You do an end run around me again, I'll snap you back so hard you'll think you're a first-year cadet again."^[4]

When faced with an opposing team using the end run, one requires three things to stop it: outside containment (from say a cornerback), defense of the cutback (from say a defensive end), and a safety (to defend the halfback pass).^[2][5]

Look up end run in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

1. ^ "Definition of END RUN". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
2. ^ ^{a b} Defensive Football Strategies, pg. 132
3. ^ Caruba, Alan (January 16, 2013). "Obama is Begging for Impeachment". The Moral Liberal. Retrieved January 16, 2013. ("An end run around Congress.")
4. ^ IMDb - "Star Trek: The Next Generation" The Best of Both Worlds: Part 1 - ("You need to take it to the Captain, fine - through me. You do an end run around me again, I'll snap you back so hard you'll think you're a first-year cadet again.")
5. ^ Arnsparger, Bill (1998-07-24). Arnsparger's Coaching Defensive Football. CRC Press. ISBN 9781574441628.

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