Pulling is when a blocking player in American football leaves his usual spot in order to pick up another assignment on the opposite side of the field,^[1] running behind the other offensive linemen, to sprint out in front of a running back and engage a defensive player beyond the initial width of the offensive line.

This technique is most commonly used by guards. In most playbooks, guards pull for outside runs as a lead blocker, such as a sweep play, and on counter plays, where the far-side guard pulls to block a play-side lineman.

Since the guard is free of responsibility for play-side outside runs and far-side counter plays, pulling is generally a unique responsibility for guards.

While tackles can also pull, this strategy is generally less common as they are too far away to pull to the opposite side of the formation (for counter plays) and have the responsibility of blocking the outside defender (generally the defensive end) for outside runs.

John Heisman is credited with first pulling guards.^[2] Vanderbilt's Dan McGugin soon followed.