Tush Push Survives Ban Attempts And The NFL Is Better And More Dramatic For It

The Tush Push, one of the NFL's most successful and controversial offensive plays, lives on. It's officially survived a concerted effort to ban the Philadelphia Eagles' signature play.

And I must say, the NFL is better for it.

The NFL is more interesting for it.

The NFL is more entertaining for it.

Because controversy can be a good thing.

Eagles Versus Packers Will Be Interesting

NFL owners, meeting in Minnesota the past two days, rejected a Green Bay Packers proposal that would have changed the rules on blocking to prohibit pushing or pulling the ballcarrier – a proposal meant to kill the Tush Push.

But the vote to pass the proposal (and ultimately ban the Tush Push) failed to get the required two-thirds majority or 24 votes to pass. The Athletic reported 10 owners voted against banning the Tush Push, so the proposal fell two votes short.

And make no mistake, this was a truly close vote. Because the fact is, the Eagles obviously voted against the ban, so the ban was really one owner unrelated to the play shy of going away. 

So the play made famous by the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles survives and that means, well, more intrigue in the coming season about the play. More discussion. More controversy perhaps, because a lot of players definitely feel a certain way about it.

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 Drama Will Continue

It also means the Nov. 10 game between the Green Bay Packers and Eagles at Lambeau Field is going to be very interesting because it was the Packers who presented the proposals that would have banned the Eagles' play.

You think Eagles coach Nick Sirianni will forget that?

The Tush Push, boring as it may seem because it is a glorified quarterback sneak, is NFL drama nonetheless.

Even the process of banning the play was interesting and perhaps entertaining. The NFL jumped through a lot of proverbial hoops to effect a ban, which was insightful into the politics of how the league works behind the scenes.

And the issue brought out some heavyweights. Commissioner Roger Goodell himself threw his weight behind banning the play for health and safety reasons, as OutKick reported on April 2.

Goodell did some lobbying against the play in the weeks since the end of the April league meeting and the start of the current meeting this week.

Jason Kelce Spoke Up For The Play

But the Eagles also brought their own heavyweight to the effort. They flew in former longtime center Jason Kelce, a great player in his time and now popular on his podcast, in commercials and on the Prime pregame and postgame shows, to lobby on behalf of the play.

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who has been a film producer and has three Academy Awards, gave an impassioned 30-minute presentation to his fellow owners about why the Tush Push should live on. That was followed by Kelce.

Kelce, by the way, is on record as saying why he was going to speak with owners via his New Heights podcast.

"There were some things said at the last owners’ meeting. Some of the owners and coaches hinted that the reason I stopped playing was because of the tush push, and that I got hurt on the tush push frequently. I’m just going to answer any questions people have about my partaking in this play," Kelce said.

"I’m just going to offer, if anybody has any questions about the tush push, or whether I retired because of the tush push, I’ll tell you, I’ll come out of retirement today if you tell me, ‘All you gotta do is run 80 tush pushes to play in the NFL.’ I’ll do that gladly. It’ll be the easiest job in the world."

Bills quarterback Josh Allen gets the 1-yard for a first down on the tush push play during first half action at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Sept. 23, 2024.

Owners Reject Idea That Tush Push Is A Safety Issue

After all the arm-twisting from both sides ended, the NFL ended the "general meeting" without a vote and moved on to a "privileged session" that allowed only owners or their family members in the room. And that's where the decision was ultimately made.

All of this is drama, folks. And the NFL should love this.

But the same league that has outlawed tackles that years ago were signature highlight moments will probably be disappointed a controversial play will live on.

The play's fate seemed sealed when the NFL’s competition committee and its health and safety committee recommended the league ban the Tush Push and those recommendations were presented to owners before their vote.

Owners weren't having it. Some apparently understand fair play is a good thing and banning a play because one team does it very well is not fair play. Some owners understand that picking on one team by removing a play that they run better than anyone else is a terrible idea.

So the Tush Push lives. Good on the NFL.