End run

In gridiron football, an end run is a running play in which the player carrying the ball tries to avoid being tackled by running outside the end of the offensive line. It is distinct from a dive, which is a run "up the middle", or an off-tackle run, which is a run through the inside gap created by the offensive tackle.

Colloquially, it has come to mean an attempt to avoid a difficult situation by dodging it without confronting it directly, or to attempt to circumvent someone's authority by appealing to a different authority.