Few things in football look cooler than when a ballcarrier executes a perfect hurdle of a would-be tackler.
It combines speed, athleticism, timing, and grace, along with how silly the defender looks when he’s left grasping at air. Watching one that’s pulled off perfectly, one is left to long for more of them, all the time. Surely the risk can’t outweigh the potential reward.
Well, here’s the downside, helpfully demonstrated when South Carolina tight end Hayden Hurst attempted to hit the Y-button and go straight over Kentucky’s Chris Westry.
It all went horribly wrong:
So, first of all, this was poorly thought out. Westry was standing up, with his head up, the entire time; these plays normally work when a defender tries to dive in low on the outside. Plus, Westry is listed at 6’4″; that’s an incredibly large human. It’s tough to pinpoint the exact moment Hurst probably realized he was about to get planted with a spinebuster:
Hayden Hurst tried to hurdle @UKFootball's Chris Westry.
It did not end well: https://t.co/akwvMdZ6lC pic.twitter.com/3RnMCJCCr8
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 25, 2016
It has to be right after lift-off, right? As he realizes he’d have needed about thirty more inches on his vertical to have a chance? And then once momentum is stopped and he begins to go in the other direction, he had to know he was going for a ride.
Anyway, I still think players should try to hurdle more often, because the only potential outcomes are awesome.
