snap of the football in which the ball goes to a running back instead of first going to a quarterback. Usually the quarterback will be some distance back from the center, sometimes another back will be in motion and cut infront of the quarterback just at the snap and take the ball on the fly, sometimes the quarter back will step aside and the ball goes directly to a back behind him. Sometimes the center snaps the ball to a back off to the side of the quarterback, you need a real good center to do that, he has to line up square as usual so as not to give the play away, then he has to snap the ball at an angle without really seeing where the back is, who also has to be really good and be exactly where he has to be. A snap to a punter or place kick holder is usually not called a direct snap because that is the person who would be expected to get the snap. A snap that bypasses the ball holder to the fieldgoal kicker for a trick play would be. I tried to look up if is legal for the center to snap the ball between the legs of a quarterback who is snuggled up close. When we were kids on the sandlot we always said it was illegal, but then we had the misconception that the quarterback HAD to touch the ball on the snap, so we would have thot any directsnap was illegal. We had the rule that for that kind of snap to be legal the QB had to let the ball gently brush his hands as it went thru. Of course our QB's were no gentler than any of us so that kinda snap usually resulted in a mis-snap and a fumble so we rarely used it. More importantly we were RedBloodedAmuricunBoys and no RBAB would get up that close to another RBAB and put his hands there.And no RBAB center would let a RBABQB put um there. We were liberated enuff to let girls play, but none of them would play center, dang it, anyway at that age they were usually taller and faster than us RBAB's so the RBAG's usually played receiver.

A direct snap is a snap directly to an intended ball carrier instead of using the QB to snap and hand off or pass to the ball carrier. This IS in fact a penalty in most leagues (pop warner, high-school, club, intermurals). Search most rule books and you'll find this penalty called "Illegal Snap", or "Direct Snap", or even "Illegal Formation". Depends on the league and era, but as long as the rest of the formation and men-in-motion rules are followed, it's typically allowed in the upper leagues (NFL, CFL, NCAA, CIS, etc...). As mentioned, the direct snap is usually to half-back behind a QB as the snap goes through both the Center's and the QB's legs. More recent innovations you'll see in collegiate play is a direct snap to a HB or FB standing beside the QB in a shot-gun formation, basically enticing a blitz from the midfield secondary as they read it as a broken play... which leaves the mid field unguarded. Probably the coolest direct-snap play you'll see is with the QB set back in a shot-gun formation (standing around like he isn't ready to start), then a WR starts a jog behind the front line (as the only man in motion) and will call the snap as he gets behind the center... I saw Arkansas do this without stopping the WR's motion... he was 5 yards down field before anyone had a chance to figure out what happened. This is especially effective if the front line and other WR's are on the opposite side of the intended rush... which draws even more defensive players away from the rush.