NFL owners vote against banning Eagles controversial ‘tush push’ play: Sources

The Philadelphia Eagles can still use the “tush push.” On Wednesday, NFL owners voted against a proposal that would have effectively banned the play, according to league sources.

Those league sources told The Athletic that 10 teams — including the Ravens, Patriots, Lions and Jets — voted against that proposal, put forth by the Green Bay Packers. A majority of the league ultimately voted for a ban, but the Packers’ proposal fell two votes shy of the required 24-vote threshold.

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Eagles leadership lobbied to protect the play they’d perfected right up to the end. According to a league source, owner Jeffrey Lurie addressed assembled owners for more than 30 minutes before Wednesday’s vote, emphasizing the need to clean up the process, not the play itself, saying: “Whoever votes to ban this play is taking liability for putting risk on our quarterbacks.” Following Lurie’s speech, former Eagles center Jason Kelce testified to the play’s safety.

At the scouting combine, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni called it “unfair” to ban a play merely because they were good at it. GM Howie Roseman had a spirited discussion with Rams coach Sean McVay and Bills coach Sean McDermott in a hallway during April’s league meetings. At that time, Lurie also pushed back against concerns over player safety: “I think for everybody, including myself especially, health and safety is the most important thing when evaluating any play,” Lurie said. “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. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t be pushing the tush push.”

The decision brings a conclusion to an offseason of drama during which executives, coaches and players throughout the league offered their opinions on one of the most confounding and controversial plays in football history: The quarterback takes a snap under center and drives forward while teammates push him from behind in a rugby-like scrum.

A formal push to ban the tush push began when the Packers submitted a proposal to the NFL’s competition committee in February. Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur argued the play didn’t belong in the game due to its “rugby” qualities, and LaFleur and other coaches claimed the play is an injury hazard. A vote was tabled in April, and the Packers submitted a revised proposal before this week’s meeting, adding broader ruling language that “prohibits an offensive player from pushing, pulling, lifting, or assisting the runner except by individually blocking opponents for him.” League sources told The Athletic that the NFL’s competition committee and health and safety committee recommended the proposal to ban the play.

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No team uses the QB sneak more frequently or more effectively than Philadelphia. According to TruMedia, the Eagles have run their quarterback 122 times in 1-yard-to-go situations since 2022. The Bills (74), Steelers (55) and Broncos (52) are the only other teams who have surpassed 50 such runs over the past three seasons. The Eagles scored 30 touchdowns and gained 105 first downs during that span.

The Eagles built on past techniques and at one point brought in former Scottish rugby player Richie Gray to advise them. Kelce often spoke of how grueling the tush push was on his body. During a March appearance on TNT’s “The Steam Room,” he said “for me, as a center, it sucks.” Still, Kelce spoke in favor of the play, adding that “football is a sport that comes down to physicality, aggression, our will versus your will for a yard.”

In April, commissioner Roger Goodell said during an interview on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he hadn’t yet seen an “overwhelming push either way.”

“But I think as people see the different things the committee has been considering and hear the conversation,” Goodell added. “I think that they’ll actually develop a consensus.”

Wide receiver A.J. Brown had a more grounded take when asked about the play on Tuesday. “I don’t have any thoughts on it,” Brown said. He paused. Shrugged. Laughed. “It’s only one yard.”

(Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)

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