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AAF’s Orlando Apollos ran the ‘Philly Special’ during their debut

By Justin Grasso

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: Nick Foles #9 of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts after a 1-yard touchdown reception against the New England Patriots during the second quarter in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: Nick Foles #9 of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts after a 1-yard touchdown reception against the New England Patriots during the second quarter in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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When are football teams going to catch on to the ‘Philly Special’ finally?

That Doug Pederson is one innovative guy, huh? It’s been a little over a year since the world got to see the ‘Philly Special’ live on national television. Although the Philadelphia Eagles technically didn’t invent the play, they were the first team ever to run it on fourth-and-goal during the Super Bowl. That’s got to count for something, right?

So maybe the Eagles aren’t the originators of the actual play design. But not a lot of teams were open to running a play that was similar to the ‘Philly Special.’ Not every team in the league can successfully find three players that can execute a pitch in motion, along with a perfect throw on the run to a quarterback who has to catch the pass (Sorry, Tom Brady).

The actual play doesn’t seem too complicated, but a lot can go wrong during the quick sequence. Therefore, teams have to absolutely have it down and perfect. The Eagles didn’t practice it a lot before the Super Bowl, but luckily, they had the right guys who could get it down.

Former Eagles tight end Trey Burton made the throw, and he just so happened to play quarterback back in the day. And Nick Foles, well, he’s sneaky athletic. He wasn’t the quickest guy, but he sold himself as nothing more than a decoy and eventually broke off into a route and caught the quick pass. Once NFL teams saw that play, it was thrown into a couple of playbooks and ran in 2018. Now, the ‘Philly Special’ is being run in a new league as well. Check it out.

Now we have the ‘Orlando Special’

The Alliance of American Football kickstarted on Saturday with a total of two games. According to the wonderful world of social media, the two games not only kept football fans who are already deprived of the game just one week after the Super Bowl satisfied. But they also gave football fans a breath of fresh air watching football without the ridiculous amounts of stoppages throughout the gameplay due to silly penalties.

dark. Next. Just how good is Cameron Johnston?

Along with the lack of flags though, there is going to be some aggressive playcalling too. Thanks to the Orlando Apollos, there shouldn’t be any hesitation when it comes to running trick plays, and making bold play calls. There’s really no standard for this league yet considering its brand new. So why wouldn’t the coaches and players want to make the gameplay aggressive and take some risks in order to keep this league interesting?

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