The debate surrounding the legality of the tush push will continue for a little bit longer. There still isn’t clarity about the future of the play that the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have used to great success over the past few seasons.
The NFL has tabled a vote on the potential ban of the tush push to a later date, FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz reported Tuesday. Schultz also reported that 16 teams were in favor of banning the play, falling eight short of the votes needed to get rid of it.
After the Green Bay Packers sent a proposal to ban the play in February, citing safety concerns, the potential elimination of the tush push was one of many proposed rule changes that were expected to be voted on at the NFL’s league meetings on Tuesday.
If a ban of the tush push is eventually approved, player safety will be one of the main reasons, according to Schultz. Those who want it banned would rather “prevent a serious injury before it happens rather than waiting for a disaster,” Schultz wrote.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst mentioned injury concerns as one of the possible reasons for the tush push ban when he spoke with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
“We’re not very successful against it, I know that, but to be honest with you, I haven’t put much thought into it,” Gutekunst said at the time. “It’s been around for a while, we’ve used it in different fashions with our tight end, so again, I think there will be a lot of discussions about it.
“I’ve got to look at some of the information as far as injury rates, things like that, to see. But we’ll see.”
Should the Eagles’ tush push be banned?
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott also cited injury concerns as the main reason why he was hoping to see the play eliminated.
“Even though there is not significant data out there to this point, my biggest concern is the health and safety of the players, first and foremost,” McDermott told reporters at the league meetings on Monday. “It’s two things: It’s force, added force, No. 1, and then the posture of the players, being asked to execute that type of play. That’s where my concern comes in.
“I’m not a doctor. I’m not going to get too deep into that situation there, in terms of how much data, how much sample. I don’t think that’s really always the best way to go. There is other data out there that suggests when you’re in a posture like we’re talking about, that can lead to serious injury. I think being responsible and proactive in that regard is the right way to go.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said in February that he was “insulted” by the rule change proposal. He remained steadfast that the play shouldn’t be banned when he spoke with reporters on Tuesday, citing a league study that found no injuries have occurred because of the tush push.
“I know what the data says, and I know how we coach it,” Sirianni said. “We don’t coach a push play any differently than we coach a quarterback sneak play. So, again, the injury data says what it says. And we coach it the exact same way whether somebody’s pushing, or whether somebody’s not pushing.
“I think somebody [Packers CEO Mark Murphy] said something about Bart Starr running the [quarterback sneak] a long time ago. So that play has been in for a very long time. There’s probably enough data about that play to get information.”
The Eagles’ usage of the tush push has been one of the most successful plays in the NFL over the past three seasons, using the play to help reach the Super Bowl in 2022 and to win it this past season. However, they have been a little less successful in running the play in each of the past two seasons. The Eagles converted on 93% of their tush push plays in 2022 and then 83% in 2023, according to ESPN. That number dropped to 81.3% in 2024, postseason included, per CBS Sports.
It’s unknown when a vote on a potential ban of the tush push will happen, but the next scheduled meeting involving NFL owners is in mid-May.
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