NFL, Trying To Ban Tush Push In Part Because Of Optics, Looks Awful In Attempt To Kill The Play

The truth of the matter is the NFL doesn't like the look of the Tush Push. And multiple teams don't love the success the Philadelphia Eagles have by running the play while they fail miserably at both stopping it on defense and duplicating its success on offense.

So the NFL will be spending the next two days, starting on Tuesday, debating and then voting on a possible ban of the Tush Push. 

PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 03: Philadelphia Eagles  attempt a tush push during the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars on November 3, 2024 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Tush Push Ban Insults Fans' Intelligence

And if NFL bosses successfully rub out the Tush Push as seems likely, what you'll hear next out of their mouths is that they weren't necessarily trying to ban the Tush Push at all. 

They'll tell you a rule they buried 20 years ago has been innocently dug up to merely improve "pace of play" and also for player safety reasons.

That's bunk, of course. There is little data the Tush Push presents a heightened player safety issue. And pace of play is one of those ambiguous terms that could basically be used to ban any play – like, say, a punt.

So what the NFL is doing is weak. It feels duplicitous.

And it insults the intelligence of fans.

What's happening is a league that doesn't like the Tush Push for how it looks is itself looking terrible in how it is undertaking this likely ban. 

And a league that prides itself on fair play is editing a rule proposal, to resurrect a long-discarded rule, and changing a voting timetable, to mount an offensive against one team that innovated for itself a competitive advantage using current rules – fair play be damned.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 18: A fan holds a "Hurts U Can Push My Tush" sign at Lumen Field on December 18, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Tush Push Ban Vote Likely On Wednesday

NFL owners are meeting in Minneapolis starting Tuesday and one of the reasons is to vote by Wednesday on the Tush Push in what is really a second attempt at killing the play this offseason.

The first attempt in March failed when clubs deadlocked at 16-16 on an issue that requires a two-thirds majority (24 votes) to ban the play. 

But here's the terrible optics portion of this drama:

Rather than vote on the issue at the full league meeting, take the defeat and give the Tush Push a reprieve for 2025, the NFL tabled the matter. It wanted to give itself the professional football equivalent of a 3 A.M. mail-in ballot dump to swing a voting outcome.

The league asked the Packers to revise their original proposal to make it more likely to pass. 

LANDOVER, MARYLAND - OCTOBER 23: President Mark Murphy of the Green Bay Packers looks on during warmups before the game against the Washington Commanders at FedExField on October 23, 2022 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Green Bay's Mark Murphy Hates The Tush Push

Green Bay, led by President Mark Murphy, presented a first proposal that prohibited an offensive player from pushing or pulling a ball carrier "immediately at the snap, push or throw his body against a teammate, who was lined up directly behind the snapper and received the snap."

That was too obvious in targeting the Eagles, which cost the Packers support. 

So the new Green Bay proposal prohibits an offensive player from assisting the runner "except by individually blocking opponents for him."

Now there could be plausible deniability for the Packers and the league if they are accused of targeting the Eagles – which they're clearly still doing.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - FEBRUARY 03: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looks on during a press conference ahead of the Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome on February 03, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Goodell Will Deny Concern Beyond Safety

It should be noted this league meeting will not include all 32 club coaches and general managers, unlike the March meeting. That clears the field of some annoying dissenting opinions that the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell would have to win over. 

And, although no source would confirm this, the interim time since the March annual meeting has been useful for lobbying efforts by league officials as well as the Eagles.

(Note: League officials are very adept at whipping votes to their favor, as past votes have proven).

And once this vote (likely) kills the play, then the fibbing which has already begun will become more imaginative. Because that's when the cover-up will begin. 

Owners and Goodell will deny this was an attempt to ban the Tush Push at all, because the league is rolling out via the Packers a resolution that merely prohibits the pushing or pulling of a ball carrier without even mentioning the Tush Push.

The NFL rolled out the revised resolution on Monday. 

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 03: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) scores on a tush push during the game between the San Fransisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles on December 3, 2023 at Lincoln Financial Field. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Tush Push On The Ropes

The new resolution is meant to have everyone believe the league is just stopping offensive players from pushing or pulling the runner, which applies to everyone and isn't an assault on Philadelphia's play. 

Except it is absolutely an assault on Philadelphia's play, which relies on offensive players pushing quarterback Jalen Hurts from behind on what is a glorified quarterback sneak.

The rule the NFL is digging up to use against the Tush Push was buried in 2005 because officials wouldn't call it downfield. And, by the way, officials in 2025 will probably also not call it downfield because that leads to multiple errors and uncertainty in their calls, which is embarrassing for the officials.

So the officials would only call the pushing at the line of scrimmage – effectively killing the Tush Push. 

And right about now, you're doubting the NFL could stoop to banning a play merely because someone thinks it looks bad. A sport washed in blood and punctuated by broken limbs and mangled fingers couldn't possibly be worried about that, could it?

"What I don’t like is the optics of that play," Rams coach Sean McVay said in March. "Looks like a rugby scrum."

What I don't like is the optics of this process. It looks too much like politics.