Tush Push Banned: Was That the Right Call?

At the NFL Spring League Meeting, the league’s 32 owners get together and often make tweaks to the rules or introduce new ones. This year, all eyes were on a proposal from the Green Bay Packers to ban the “tush push”, a play that has become synonymous with the Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles. Originally proposed in February, the resolution was tabled until this week, where a revised version fell short in a 22-10 vote. Why was a ban on the table, and why did it fail? More importantly, should the proposal have failed? We answer all the questions you may have about one of the most famous plays in football today.

What is the Tush Push, and Who Runs It?

Sometimes called the “brotherly shove” in honor of Philadelphia, the “City of Brotherly Love”, the tush push is an altered QB sneak in which two players, often an RB and a TE, get behind the quarterback and push him forward. The offensive line tries to go as low as possible to withstand the oncoming rush. Only teams with good offensive lines and extremely strong QBs can run the tush push. The Eagles and Bills, with Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen, respectively, run it more than the rest of the NFL combined. If you want to see the play in action, the Eagles taunted those who voted to ban it with a video showing 26 minutes of tush pushes.

Who Wanted to Ban the Tush Push and Why?

The main reason teams wanted this play banned is that it’s extremely hard to stop. Philadelphia, the originators of the tush push and the best team at running it, have converted it for a first down or a TD 86% of the time since 2022. Even the rest of the league has succeeded with it on 71% of their attempts over the same span. Any time the Eagles faced a goal-line situation or a 3rd/4th and 1, they ran the tush push with incredible effectiveness. Because Philly is so good at it, especially in 2023 when they were practically automatic, opponents consider it an unfair advantage that hurts their teams. Thus, they want it gone.

The league office dislikes the play because it’s not aesthetically pleasing for viewers. In fact, they hated it so much that they actually recruited the Packers to make their proposal. Most opponents of the tush push tried to use an injury argument, stating that the play is too risky for linemen. As of now though, that’s merely a potential threat, as NFL data showed that nobody was directly injured on a tush push in 2024. I find it a bit hard to believe that these giant piles of humanity don’t harm the players, and I distinctly remember linemen walking off gingerly after the play. Still, the data stand as they are.

I think the best reason for banning the play came from Commanders LB Frankie Luvu. He compared the tush push to a rugby scrum, which is incredibly accurate. However, he noted that in rugby, both teams know exactly when to start the scrum. With the tush push, only the offense knows the precise timing. In his view, that gives them an unfair advantage over the defense. Luvu should know. He committed 3 consecutive offsides penalties during the NFC Championship game to try and stop it. Basically, he’s saying that once the offense snaps the ball, it’s over. Nobody made a better argument in favor of the ban in my opinion.

What Were the Arguments in Favor of Saving the Tush Push?

There are two sides to every story. Proponents of the tush push say that you can’t ban a play just because a team got too good at it. That’s nothing more than sour grapes. Seemingly unstoppable innovations happen all the time, and defenses adjust. Remember when the read option seemed like it broke the game? The tush push is actually much less threatening, as it usually only involves 1 yard. You can also argue that it’s not much different from a regular QB sneak with a strong QB. If TE Dallas Goedert isn’t pushing him, would Jalen Hurts still pick up the yard? His 600-lb bench press says that he likely would.

From a player health standpoint, tush push advocates claim that the data show nothing about the play being dangerous. On the surface, that is true. The findings don’t account for potential injury, but our sample size is large enough to have had one by now. Former Eagles C Jason Kelce passionately backed the play. He claimed he’d return to the league if he could run 60 tush pushes a game. As the man at the bottom of more tush push piles than anyone ever, his words carry weight. If he doesn’t think that the play added unnecessary wear-and-tear to his body, I’m inclined to listen to him. I believe that the owners did as well.

How Did the Proposal Process Go Down?

Initially, Green Bay, at the behest of the league, proposed banning the tush push. Their draft did not mention the play by name, but its language clearly had the Eagles in mind. Intense lobbying ensued, but the league tabled the vote after an even 16-16 split appeared to be the likely result. With any proposal requiring at least 24 owners to agree, it would’ve been dead on arrival. Just prior to the Spring League Meeting, Green Bay changed the text to ban ALL pushing plays where an offensive player assists a runner. That would’ve brought us approximately back to a 2005 rule outlawing all such assistance.

The change was made so that the Eagles weren’t singled out and to drum up a bit more support. That worked, as 6 more teams backed the proposal this time around. However, at 22-10, the motion still failed. Interestingly, the Bills, who use the play more than anyone except Philadelphia, backed the ban. The Ravens, Browns, Eagles, Lions, Jaguars, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots, Saints, and Titans saved the tush push from extinction. Supposedly, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie made an hour-long speech in the play’s defense and got into it with NFL EVP of Football Operations Troy Vincent. Passion permeated this entire process.

Should the Tush Push Have Been Outlawed from the Game?

What you’re all probably wondering is whether a ban of the tush push would’ve been good for football. That’s the hardest question to answer, but I’ll take a crack at it. I’m ambivalent on the injury issue. It seems impossible for these scrums to be good for players’ bodies, but the data say they do no extra harm. Personally, I was behind the initial proposal but not too keen on the one that got an actual vote. Based on its language, we’d be banning pile pushing during normal runs as well. Take a look at these awesome and fun plays and tell me that YOU want to see them banished from the NFL.

The shift in terminology increased support for the proposal, but that was misguided. I would have backed the original. Luvu’s argument really stuck out to me. In the pile pushes described above, both sides are on equal footing. Actually, pushing the runner helps even the odds, as there are usually more defenders than teammates around a ball-carrier. Conversely, the timing element of the tush push (i.e., it starts at the snap) bakes unfairness into it. I think the NFL bungled the proposal process, and some typically unwise owners botched their votes. The tush push simply isn’t good for the game of football.