Fake or Fraud

I had an ethic professor who pushed the issue of integrity in sports. To push us, he asked about the ethic of deliberately fooling your opponent through a no look pass, or a play-action football play. He argued that we accepted it simply because it got desirable results.

I struggled as he spoke to really see his point. It wasn't just that getting a bounce pass into the post would be harder if you couldn't fake. You also run into a scary question, "How responsible am I for the conclusions others will make?" If a team knows the opponent will assume they are running the ball because of the formation they are in, is the team then obligated to run it? It seems that a good fake is part of the game, reminding the opponent to keep the eye on the ball and be prepared for the unpredictability of the game.

However, I just don't know how I feel watching the clip below. Perhaps you could argue the opponent could have known the rules and therefore stopped the play. Perhaps I'm only bothered because the players are fairly young in age.

However, I just can't imagine, if this was the game winning touchdown, that I would be able to sit in front of my locker feeling like we really got the best of our opponent. It wouldn't be so much and issue of skill or strategy, but of trickery. What do you think?

video clip HT: Justin Taylor