This is a statistic used in football which counts all the times
a player attempted to advance the ball up the field via a rush. A
rushing play need not be called in order for a player to record a
rushing attempt, only that a player makes an attempt to run it. The
rule applies a bit looser to quarterbacks, who may run around
behind the line of scrimmage and attempt to cross it, but not
record a rushing attempt because it is seen as trying to avoid a
tackle. It is also not required that a rushing attempt result in
This statistic is recorded in order to help team officials determine how often a player is active on the field, how many times the ball is handed off to them, how often the plays result in gains in yardage, and to aid in the calculation of many other statistics.
Another term for a rushing attempt is a "carry." This is because a rushing attempt usually begins with the ball being handed off from the quarterback to the rusher, who then "carries" the ball up the field. A carry will always result in a rushing attempt being recorded, however a rushing attempt does not necessarily mean the player carried the ball, though often does. An example of its usage is, "Joe had six rushing attempts for fifty yards."