Tush Push Remains Alive After Owners Vote Comes Up Short

Tush Push remains alive after owners vote comes up short originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Tush Push is still alive.

The Eagles’ signature play is staying after the Packers’ proposal failed to get the 24 votes required to ban it at the owners meetings in Minneapolis, Dianna Russini of The Athletic first reported. It was close — 22-10, according to multiple reports.

The Eagles spent their offseason lobbying to keep the play and continued that on Wednesday morning in Minneapolis. Eagles legend Jason Kelce joined Jeffrey Lurie in an effort to keep the play legal. It worked.

The nine teams to join the Eagles voting against the ban, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, were the Lions, Saints, Ravens, Browns, Jaguars, Dolphins, Patriots, Jets and Titans. It’s worth noting that seven of those nine are AFC teams. While Kellen Moore’s Saints were with the Eagles, Shane Steichen’s Colts and Jonathan Gannon’s Cardinals were not.

The Packers first proposed a rule change that would ban the Tush Push earlier this offseason but it didn’t get enough support at the owners meetings in Palm Beach, Florida. The proposal didn’t get to an official vote in Florida. Opinions were reportedly split 16-16 among the 32 owners and it was clear the proposal wouldn’t reach the 24 necessary votes, so it was tabled until this week.

The Eagles were aware of the vote coming down this week but they weren’t focused on it as they continue their offseason workouts.

“We can’t control that so we don’t even worry about that,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said on Tuesday. “Right now, we’re just installing our schemes. Whatever [offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo] is installing that day, that’s what we’re focused on. Because worrying about whether they’re going to ban the Tush Push or not ain’t going to win us another championship. What we do every day here matters.”

Just ahead of this week’s meetings, the Packers tweaked their proposal to broaden the language and basically reintroduce the rule from before the 2004 season when pushing or pulling of any runner was prohibited. This alteration seemed likely based on comments from Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay a couple months ago.

McKay has said that the Competition Committee doesn’t like to make rules that affect just one or two teams and it seems like the broadening of the language sufficed for that goal in their minds. Although, if you’re the Eagles, this obviously feels like an attack on a play simply because it has been successful. 

Because of all that, it seemed likely the play would be banned. But the Eagles successfully lobbied to keep it.

While other teams have attempted the Tush Push, no other team has been nearly as good at it as the Eagles since they began running it frequently in 2022.

“All I know is everything we’re doing is legal and it works,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said way back in March of 2023. “And just because people do something that’s really good, doesn’t mean it should be outlawed.”

In their proposal, the Packers cited player safety but NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent is on record saying there were zero injuries on the play in 2024.

Some detractors of the play — like Bills head coach Sean McDermott — have spoken about being proactive to prevent future injuries. That was a hard sell for the Eagles.

“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 in early April. “If it weren’t, we wouldn’t be pushing the Tush Push.

“But I think, first of all, it’s a precision play. It’s very practiced. We devote a lot of resources to the Tush Push. We think we have an unusual use of personnel because we have a quarterback (Jalen Hurts) that can squat over 600 pounds and an offensive line that’s filled with All-Pro players. That combination with incredible, detailed coaching with Coach (Jeff) Stoutland, has created a play we can be very successful at. There’s other ways of gaining that half yard, that yard. There’s quarterback sneaks, other types, but we’ve been very, very good at it.”

It’s worth noting that after the proposal was tabled in early April, McKay said the 30-40 minute discussion went beyond player safety and into the realm of aesthetics. When asked about that argument a couple months ago, Lurie scoffed.

“You know what?” Lurie said. “I remember reading about the forward pass and they said it really was an odd play that is no part of American football. It was controversial when the forward pass came out.”

Head coach Nick Sirianni has pushed back against the notion that the play is automatic because he knows how hard the Eagles have worked to perfect it. He has also worked tirelessly to protect the play by adding different wrinkles.

The Eagles would have likely been very good at traditional quarterback sneaks had this proposal passed. They have a tremendous offensive line and a really strong quarterback in Jalen Hurts.

But they don’t have to worry about that. Their signature play is sticking around.