After all the fanfare and debates, the NFL owners have ruled the league can keep on pushing. The ‘Tush Push’ play is here to stay.
The league officially failed to ban the ‘Tush Push’ on Wednesday, after the proposal did not receive enough support in a vote by the owners. League rules dictate that at least 24 of the 32 teams had to be in favor of the move.
The final tally ended two teams short, with 22 teams voting in favor of a ban and 10 teams electing to allow the play to live on – with the New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions and New England Patriots among the teams that sided with the Eagles, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
It was a rule change that appeared to be a guarantee heading into Wednesday’s session, which was attended by Jason Kelce, who played an informational role in the process.
The Eagles celebrated the decision on social media, with a simple ‘Push On’ posted on X.
Any attempt to ban or limit the play has been controversial in NFL circles. The Green Bay Packers initially proposed the idea at the NFL league meetings in April, when it was revealed they didn’t have enough support at the time and would table the discussion until May.
The Packers submitted a revised proposal to ban the play earlier this week. In the updated proposal’s language, no offensive player may ‘push or pull a runner in any direction at any time or lift him to his feet.’ The Packers also eliminated ‘immediately at the snap’ in the updated language.
The ‘Tush Push’ was a play made famous by the Philadelphia Eagles, who perfected the process following head coach Nick Sirianni’s arrival in 2021. However, the play’s origins date back to 2018, when Anthony Barr of the Minnesota Vikings was captured in a mic’d up moment talking through the strategy.
Jalen Hurts, Jason Kelce and the Eagles used the concept to make most short-yardage situations nearly automatic.
Depending on your perspective, the play resembles a rugby scrum and is not a football play or a quarterback sneak that rarely fails.
Many teams have tried to mirror the Eagles and their ability to convert at a high level, but that hasn’t been the case for most.
Despite that reality, the Packers pushed for a ban. The team’s president, Mark Murphy, spoke back in April about his optimism surrounding the potential ban despite the tabling of talks.
‘I think it ended up in a good place,’ Murphy said in an interview with the Packers’ YouTube channel. ‘We ended up tabling it but we had really good discussions. Talked a little bit about our safety concerns regarding the play, just kind of the style of the play. But good interaction with the league. So it’ll be tabled. And then what we’re going to do is, it’ll be voted on in the May meeting.’
Most opposition, including Murphy, to the ‘Tush Push’ has pointed to a previous rule that said you can’t push or pull players. According to NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay, it was too hard for officials to officiate, which is why the rule was done away with in 2005.
Considering how close the league got to banning the ‘Tush Push’ this offseason, it seems likely that there will be more challenges in the future.
For now, the Eagles’ infamous play lives to fight another day.