Lateral pass
Compared to its use in rugby, laterals and backward passes are less common in North American football, due to a much greater focus on ball control in American football strategy; they are most commonly used by the quarterback, after taking the snap, to quickly transfer ("pitch") the ball a short distance to a nearby running back (or, rarely, wide receiver) on a rushing play.
If it hits the ground, the person throwing or "pitching" the lateral pass will be subjected to the fumble designation in the statistics in the NFL, even if the ball is dropped or muffed by a teammate, although in college football this can be credited to whichever player the statistician feels is most responsible.
Another variant is called the flea flicker, where a player laterals the ball back to the quarterback before crossing the line of scrimmage.
The lateral pass rule, or rather the lack of restrictions contained therein, has given rise to some of the most memorable and incredible walk-off touchdowns in football history.
A well-known and controversial NFL lateral pass occurred during the Music City Miracle play at the end of the 2000 playoff game between the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills.
[8] In a college football game in 1982, the famous walk-off touchdown simply called The Play happened with five backward passes.
With time running out, the Saints threw backward passes and brought the ball down the length of the field for a touchdown.
Trinity University was trailing by two points with two seconds left in a game against conference rival Millsaps College.
The Miami Hurricanes college football team threw eight lateral passes over the course of 45 seconds to score a touchdown and upset the 22nd-ranked Duke Blue Devils 30–27.
The play stirred controversy amid a number of missed calls by the Atlantic Coast Conference officiating crew.
[10] Miami had almost lost a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers five years prior via laterals, but managed to win when Antonio Brown stepped out of bounds at the thirteen-yard line.
