There’s no ifs, ands or butts about it: The push to ban the “tush push” has become a pain in the rear for the NFL.
The Green Bay Packers, whose 2024 season was bookended by losses to the Philadelphia Eagles, have made headlines by lobbying for a rule change to penalize the controversial play — a move that would most adversely affect the … Philadelphia Eagles.
Cries of “sour grapes!” were heard from the Liberty Bell all the way to Florida, where arguments about the topic reportedly became heated last week as the two sides butted heads at the NFL’s annual owners meetings.
The league ultimately decided to table the Packers’ proposal before an official vote. A rule change requires support from 75 percent of the owners, or 24 votes, and the camps were reportedly split down the middle at 16-16.
Even though the tush push — think rugby scrum meets QB sneak, if you’ve been under a rock or on a darkness retreat with a four-time MVP — happened on just 0.28 percent of total plays in the NFL in 2024, and even though the Super Bowl champion Eagles and Buffalo Bills were the only teams to run it more than five times, the play has hogged the offseason spotlight.
Some critics argue, albeit without concrete evidence, that the play carries a heightened injury risk with so much mass applying so much force in so little space. Others are offended by the aesthetics, as even a Philly fan (after a few Yuengling lagers, perhaps) would have to admit that the tush push is butt-ugly.
Another argument bringing up the rear is that it’s already against the rules for defensive players to push their own linemen from behind during kicking plays, although that’s largely because the long snapper is a defenseless and vulnerable player.
“We don’t allow the linebackers to push the defensive linemen on extra points and we’re just trying to be consistent,” said Dallas Cowboys co-owner Stephen Jones, a member of the NFL’s competition committee.
“… Green Bay really brought something to our attention that we felt like certainly needs to be vetted in the meeting room and amongst the owners and see where we come out on it.”
Proponents of the tush push, alternately styled as the “brotherly shove” in the City of Brotherly Love, counter that the play is actually safer than a traditional sneak, where a quarterback has less protection from teammates.
“We’ve been very open to whatever data exists on the tush push and there’s just been no data that shows that it isn’t a very, very safe play,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said. “If it weren’t, we wouldn’t be pushing the tush push.”
Several supporters for keeping the play legal point out the potential unfairness of penalizing Philadelphia for creating and rigorously practicing a play that still works — even when everyone in the stadium and watching at home knows what’s coming.
“I am of the school that they found something and it’s up to everybody else to stop it. So, I’m a hard yes,” Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell said.
“The Eagles just coach it better than the rest of us,” added Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales.
The NFL never wants to be the butt of jokes on late-night TV. Commissioner Roger Goodell said he supports Green Bay’s plan to broaden the proposal to remove all pushing and pulling of players.
“That makes a lot of sense in many ways because that expands it beyond that single play,” he said. “There are a lot of plays where you see people pushing or pulling somebody that are not in the tush push formation that I think do have an increased risk of injury. So, I think the committee will look at that and come back … with some proposals.”
To push or not to push. Cheeseheads versus cheesesteaks. The debate isn’t over. It will rear its ugly head again at the May 20–21 league meetings in Minneapolis.
