The Hypocrisy of a "Tush Push" Ban

This offseason, the Green Bay Packers officially proposed a rule change to ban the Philadelphia Eagles popular “Tush Push” play. The Eagles run this play effectively in short yardage situations, and frequently on the goal line. It consists of their quarterback Jalen Hurts taking the snap under center and then pushing forward, along with some extra shoving from various other players. No doubt, the play helped the Eagles to win Super Bowl 59 this past season and has been a major part of their success in the past few years of the Nick Sirianni-Jalen Hurts era in Philadelphia.

The Packers proposed to ban it. Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott, whose team uses the play themselves - albeit, ineffectively - has been a staunch critic of the play this offseason and supports the ban. McDermott cites the injury concern, despite acknowledging the NFL released information that exactly zero players have been injured as a result of this play.

This proposal has no legs to stand on. It’s weak, baseless, reeks of jealousy, and is downright disgraceful and disrespectful to the National Football League.

Sure, that’s extreme, but it’s my legitimate feeling. This past week at the NFL Owners Meetings, the ban was expected to be voted on. It would need to receive 24 votes (75%) from NFL teams for the rule change to go through. Though, after discovering only 16 (50%) of NFL teams oppose the play and would support the rule change, the proposal has been “tabled,” and will not be voted on at this point in time.

What does that mean? Is the tush push here to stay? Not exactly. The reason for “tabling” it is because those who support the banning of the play are hoping to get an additional 8 votes on their side. The rule change will likely be voted on again at the Spring meeting next month in Minnesota. So, the Packers and company aren’t giving up. At least, on the potential rule change, they’re not giving up. On their competitive spirit? They’ve already surrendered that.

The quickest way the anti-tush push argument falls apart is when you try to argue that banning it would support player safety. It’s simply untrue. The NFL quite literally reported zero players have been injured when the play has been run. There is not a shred of data to back up the claim that players are getting injured on the play.

Additionally, the NFL actually approved a different rule change this past week. Touchbacks on kickoffs will now spot the ball at the 35 yard line. I remember a time when touchbacks resulted in the ball being spotted at the 20 yard line. Heck, I remember a time when the NFL was looking to eliminate kickoffs entirely in the name of player safety. But now, this rule change has been enacted specifically to “increase the number of kickoffs.” So, don’t ever tell me the NFL is looking out for the safety of players. It’s a violent sport. It doesn’t matter if you make the players on the kicking team stand still. They’re still running at a ball carrier at high speed, making the kickoff an incredibly dangerous play that has a high likelihood of resulting in injuries. But we want to see more of that? And at the same time, the tush push, which nobody has ever gotten hurt from, is something we want to get rid of to protect players? Give me a break.

At the end of the day, the proposal to ban the tush push stems from a feeling of jealousy. Just look at the optics. One of the most hated teams in the league just won the Super Bowl and you want to ban their most successful play. A play that anyone else can do. If this play is banned, the NFL should be ashamed.