The Philadelphia Eagles are not sitting back quietly as a vote among NFL owners looms to potentially ban the “tush push” play.
As reported by The Athletic, the team is actively calling other franchises to campaign for their iconic play to remain legal in the NFL.
Their effort comes on the heels of the Green Bay Packers’ push of their own. In a March proposal, the Packers introduced a potential rule change that would prohibit any offensive player from pushing another from behind after immediately receiving a snap.
Under the Packers’ proposal, the offense would be penalized 10 yards for a push violation.
The Packers cited player safety and pace of play as a justification for banning the play, which has become known as “tush push” and “brotherly shove,” after the Eagles began running the play more regularly during the 2022 season.
Philadelphia ranked in the top 10 for fourth-down conversions and top five in conversion percentage in each of the past three seasons, largely boosted by the “tush push.” Last year, the Eagles converted 70.4 percent of their conversions, fourth-best in the NFL.
League owners tabled the vote last month, but an informal vote indicated that teams were split 16-16 on the issue. Banning the play would require 24 teams to vote in favor of the Packers’ rule proposal. Team owners are expected to convene in Minneapolis on Wednesday and Thursday to vote on various topics.
“There are definitely some people that have health and safety concerns, but there’s just as many people that have football concerns, and that was kind of what went on in the room with the discussion,” Rich McKay, chairman of the NFL competition committee, said last month.
“So I wouldn’t say it was because of one particular health and safety video or discussion. It was much more about the play, the esthetics of the play, ‘Is it part of what football has been traditionally, or is it more of a rugby play?’ All those types of discussions.”
Washington Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu, making an appearance on “Good Morning Football” on NFL Network, said league owners should ban the tush push, calling it “kind of like a cheapo play.”
“That’s pretty much a scrum in rugby,” Luvu said. “That’s how I kind of look at it. And we’ve got to have a scrum, too, on the other side. And the scrum is, we have a cadence where we all go at once. It’s not like you hard count and this and that, where now you’re getting us — or myself — jumping over the pile thinking that you’re going to snap the ball.
“That’s just my own personal opinion, and I’m going to leave it at that.”
Luvu was infamously penalized on three consecutive snaps in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game after diving over the line of scrimmage before the snap in an attempt to stuff the tush push. Other players then prematurely jumped on the ensuing play.
Following the third penalty, referee Shawn Hochuli announced that the Commanders were advised that the referees can award a touchdown if those actions continued. While Washington did not jump offside on the next play, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts scored a touchdown by himself.
–Field Level Media
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