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, a character 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]

Defensive strategy

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]

References

^ "Definition of END RUN". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
^ ^a ^b Defensive Football Strategies, pg. 132
^ Caruba, Alan (January 16, 2013). "Obama is Begging for Impeachment". The Moral Liberal. Retrieved January 16, 2013. ("An end run around Congress.")
^ 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.")
^ Arnsparger, Bill (1998-07-24). Arnsparger's Coaching Defensive Football. CRC Press. ISBN 9781574441628.