NFL Owners Vote To Not Ban The Tush Push
QB Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles gets a tush push for a touchdown during Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 9 in New Orleans. (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)
The Philadelphia Eagles’ “Secret Weapon” is still legal, for now.
After years of teams and fans complaining about the Eagles running the “Tush Push”, their variation of a quarterback sneak, the NFL owners did not reach the 75% requirement for banning the play. 22 of the 32 NFL owners voted to ban the play, however, 24 votes were needed to put the rule into effect.
This is a great thing for the Eagles, as many expected the play to be banned after voting this morning. Since the season ended in February, teams had begun to voice their displeasure with the play. Most notably, the Green Bay Packers were the ones who submitted the proposal for the owners to vote on whether it should be banned.
Green Bay brought the proposal to the first meeting in March, but the language in the rule proposal wasn’t clear, so the play was not banned. However, the Packers adjusted their definition of the rule so that now it states that no teammate can “push or pull a runner in any direction at any time or lift him to his feet.” Teammates can no longer assist a runner except by “individually blocking opponents for him.” If that action is done in games, a penalty will be called, and the ball will be moved back 10 yards from where the action occurred.
The NFL previously had a rule similar to this until 2005, when it was changed. A main concern for teams is the health and safety of players during the play. While the play doesn’t look the safest in the world, the NFL has put out multiple reports that zero players have suffered injuries from the play.
While the data out there suggests that no players have suffered injuries because of it, teams still feel there are concerns about injuries. At the previous meeting in March, some owners had injury concerns due to former Eagles center Jason Kelce retiring, as they felt his retirement came in large part due to his involvement in the play. Kelce was the main focal point of the play as the quarterback (mainly Jalen Hurts) was shoved into Kelce and “rode” him into the endzone.
Kelce spoke on his podcast “New Heights” about the play and said he doesn’t care if the play gets banned, as the Eagles will still successfully run a normal quarterback sneak. As for injury concerns, Kelce said, “I’d come out of retirement today if all I had to do was run the Tush Push 80 times a game,” basically stating that the play never caused him injuries.
Eagles Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie brought Kelce to Minneapolis to answer any owners’ questions about the play. Lurie also spoke to the owners about the play, saying they needed to clean up the process, not the play itself. “It’s the safest play in the history of the game,” Lurie said. “Whoever votes to ban this play is taking liability for putting risk on our quarterbacks.”
After the general session of the meeting ended, the owners went into a privileged session to further debate and vote on the future of the “Tush Push.” The final vote was 22-10 in favor of banning the play, two votes short of the required 24. Some of the teams that supported the Eagles in not banning the play included the Ravens, Patriots, Lions, and Jets. 22-10 is also significant, as that was the score of the Eagles’ game against the Packers in the playoffs this past season.
The Eagles first began running the play during the 2022 season, after the idea was spawned in Indianapolis years prior by former offensive coordinator of the Colts and current head coach of the Eagles, Nick Sirianni. Since starting to run the play, Philadelphia has successfully gained 92 first downs and 27 touchdowns, according to ESPN. Their success rate on the play over the past three years is 87%, which is 16% higher than the league average of 71%.
While the play is safe for now, this is likely not the end for teams wanting to get this rule approved. For now, the Eagles will continue to run the “Tush Push” or the “Brotherly Shove” as some call it, going forward.
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Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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