Tush push debate is a bad look for pro football

The arguments have been made. The goalposts have moved. The question is whether the ongoing effort to get rid of the tush push is good for the game.

It’s not. And the entire effort is a bad look for the sport.

Yes, some want to get rid of it. And they’ve come up with flimsy, shifting arguments.

The discussion goes something like this.

“The play isn’t safe.”

“OK, where’s the injury data?”

“There is none.”

“So how do you know it’s not safe?”

“It might not be safe.”

“How do you know that?”

“It looks like it might not be safe. We need to be proactive.”

“But you’re never proactive. Why are you suddenly being proactive now?”

“Well, it doesn’t look like football.”

“Does it comply with the current rules of football?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t look like a football play.”

“To whom?”

It all feels like a way to take something away from the NFL’s best team. While some opponents of the play might genuinely believe the reasons that have been given, the circumstances justify the very real perception that it’s less about doing the right thing and more about sour grapes.

At a minimum, the debate gives the other 31 teams a way to explain away their failure to compete with the defending Super Bowl champions.

Remember when the Patriots were constantly accused of cheating? Yes, they were guilty of some cheating. But the accusations became ridiculous. Still, when owners demanded to know why their teams couldn’t compete with the Patriots, saying “they cheat” sounded a lot better than admitting they’re smarter, they work harder, they’re more innovative, and they’re just better than their competitors. (The Chiefs have been dealing with that recently, with their success being undermined by the misguided idea that the officials are trying to help the Chiefs win.)

The current tush push debate, regardless of its outcome, allows teams that can’t beat the Eagles to blame it on a play that isn’t a football play and that basically is cheating but for the fact that at least 24 teams haven’t decided to make it cheating.

It’s a dangerous precedent. If a team comes up with a consistently successful technique, the goal should be figuring out how to stop it and/or figuring out how to do it. The strategy should not be to hide behind safety or aesthetics or any other half-baked justification in an effort to come up with enough support to kill the play or, at a minimum, to create the perception that it’s unfair or wrong to use it.

The Eagles might be tempted to say, “Fine. Ban the tush push. We’ll still run the quarterback sneak in a way that no one can stop it.” Here’s hoping they don’t, for two reasons.

First, the next proposal could target the quarterback sneak. Second, surrendering would legitimize the effort to counter a play that works by getting rid of it. Or, at a minimum, by raising the idea that there’s something wrong with using it.

The second reason is the main reason for the Eagles to stand firm. Those who can’t compete with a successful play shouldn’t be able to collectively cook up pretextual reasons for removing from the game the thing they can’t handle.

For now, it’s the tush push. At some point, it’ll be something else. While it might not be good for the game to have one team dominate until other teams can come with an answer, it’s horrible for the game to let the answer be coming up with trumped-up reasons to remove a play that other teams don’t like.

Click here to read article