Every team has a “Trap” play in it’s offense, and as a high school offensive lineman I loved to pull in a “Tackle Trap” and nail the first defensive lineman who showed up in front of me. You blast them from the side, and usually you have caught them by complete surprise. It seemed like such a natural play for the Chip Kelly offense that I was always on the lookout for it, yet from the time that Chip Kelly had been at Oregon from 2007 through 2011 — I had not found a single example up to that point yet. The Grizzled Ol’ Coach dismissed my thoughts as he said that, “Oregon doesn’t have a Trap play,” which annoyed me that much further. I was going to find an example for him and all!
Imagine how thrilled I was to find a Trap play in the Arizona State game of 2011! I eagerly called the Grizzled Ol’ Coach and told him where to look for it on the replay, and he just waved it off. ”Oregon does not have a Trap play, Charles.” Baloney!
I could see it right in front of me, and then the unbelievable occurred as Chip Kelly himself confirmed the Trap play and described it on his coaches show as he stated that, “Yeah, long trap play, the tackle is going to release down on the Middle Linebacker, pull the backside guard and trap the end.”
Ha! Not only was I going to be difficult to be around, but by gosh, I’m going to make a video about it and announce it to all the football world. Below is a “FishDuck Minute” video that revealed the new play, and I inserted Chip’s own description of the play!
So after publishing the video — I sent an email to the ‘Ol Coach to watch it and THEN tell me what he thought! On the phone later he admitted that he could not dispute what Chip said, but he repeated again that, “Oregon does not have a Trap play!” I wrote it off as sour grapes, since this was the only time that I caught something that the veteran coach of many years had not.
A few months later I had the pleasure of having one of Oregon’s starting offensive linemen in my ManCave as we watched film together and enjoyed the many blocks created by the O-line in that 2011 campaign. Of course, I triumphantly played my video of the Trap play, and afterward I was stunned at the reaction from this giant lineman. “Charles … we don’t have a Trap play in the playbook!”
“What?!” I demanded. “Then what was that?”
He sheepishly looked at me and then pointed to the screen. ”It was meant to be a Power play with the guard pulling to come around and get the OLB or whoever showed up in that gap. But the TE (David Paulson) did not hear the new call and he went out for a pass in the flat! The defensive end was supposed to be blocked by Paulson and thus the DE was free. The guard ran into him, blocked him outside, and it gave the appearance of a Trap play.” He repeated again that, “We don’t have a Trap play in the playbook … except by mistake!”
So, now I was annoyed again. ”What was that stuff that Chip was saying? What was up with that?”
The offensive lineman smiled and said, “That was just Chip pulling the leg of the Media again, and he probably got a big kick out of it!”
Oh, brother … so the egg was on my face after all. The Grizzled Ol’ Coach enjoyed my apology, and I decided to leave the video up as an example to all that Chip had way too much fun with the Media, and that was truly an inside joke that he enjoyed. The Trap Play that Never Was … .
Not the only time Chip pulled the leg of the Media! When Chip was asked what he and Kenjon Barner were just talking about? “That we love each other.”
(Top photo from Video)
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Charles Fischer has been an intense fan of the Ducks, a season ticket holder at Autzen Stadium for 35 years and has written reports on football boards for over 23 years. Known as “FishDuck” on those boards, he is acknowledged for providing intense detail in his scrimmage reports and in his Xs and Os play analyses. He and his wife Lois, have a daughter Christine, reside in Eugene Oregon, where he was a Financial Advisor for 36 years and now focuses full-time on Charitable Planned Giving Workshops for churches and non-profit organizations.
He does not profess to be a coach or analyst, but simply a “hack” that enjoys sharing what he has learned and invites others to correct or add to this body of Oregon Football! See More…
