What is a 'Statue of Liberty' play in football?

Answer 1

It's a trick play where the quarterback fakes a pass, then just stands there with the ball in his raised hand (like the Statue of Liberty) and the halfback, running a crossing route, takes the ball out of his hand and runs with it. It's a high-school play, and it often doesn't work even at that level, because it develops too slowly and it's easy to read. You'll only see it in a high school (or lower!) game where one side is so far behind they're desperate enough to try anything.

Not necessarily true there. In the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, Boise State ran a variation of the Statue of Liberty play in overtime to score the winning points in an absolutely thrilling 43-42 victory over the University of Oklahoma. Click on the 'Boise State Statue of Liberty' link on this page to see the film of how they ran their version.