INDIANAPOLIS – Just when you thought debate about the legality of the Philadelphia Eagles’ signature “Tush Push” play came and went like, well, three years ago, it has emerged as an item this week with NFL movers and shakers assembling for the league’s annual scouting combine.
Never mind whether they can stop it. (Nope.) Should it even be legal?
The Green Bay Packers made the debate official by submitting a proposal to the league’s competition committee to ban the short-yardage play – where teammates push quarterback Jalen Hurts from behind in a rugby-flavored mashup – that could be headed to a vote by NFL owners in a few weeks.
“I’ll let the competition committee discuss that,” Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn scoffed on Wednesday. “Until then, we’ve got to find ways to try to stop them. That’s our job.”
Maybe some of this is wrapped in old-fashioned jealousy. The Eagles, who converted 39 of 48 “Tush Push” plays for first downs or touchdowns during the 2024 campaign, including postseason, are the new Super Bowl champions. And those Packers, well, saw their season end with a setback at Philadelphia in the first round of the NFC playoffs.
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You know what they say: Break up the “Tush Push.” (Or something like that.)
“It should’ve been illegal three years ago,’ Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris contended during an NFL Network interview on Tuesday. ‘No, the ‘Tush Push’ play, I’ve never been a big fan. There’s no other play in our game where you can absolutely get behind somebody and push them, pull them off, do anything.
“I never really understood it, and why that was legal. So, I’m definitely going to be one of those guys voting against that.”
It’s striking to note that until the Packers submitted their proposal, the “Tush Push” was nowhere near a priority for the competition committee, according to Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations. The committee held extensive meetings over three days this week to review and discuss myriad matters, including potential rules changes.
Now the committee will be forced to take a deeper dive (no pun intended) into the play, which some suspect increases injury risk.
“I just feel like the health and safety of our players has to be at the top of our game, which it is,” Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott said during his combine media session. “The techniques that are used with that play have been potentially contrary to the health and safety of the players. You have to go back, though, in fairness to the injury data on the play. The optics on it, I’m not in love with.’
Vincent understands the injury concern – and there’s nothing quite like the health and safety elements to move the needle on rules changes, as illustrated with the dynamic kickoff rule the league instituted last season.
Yet there’s one pertinent detail: When it comes to the “Tush Push,” there’s no injury data – as in zero injuries, Vincent maintained – to support an argument for banning the play.
Still, as McDermott alluded to, the optics might make you shudder. Vincent acknowledged there’s pause when pondering the pressure on the vertebrae and back of the neck, when players are in prone positions. And, of course, as is the case for any short-yardage collision, there’s the general risk that comes with bodies flying.
“There’s only so many ways you can stop that play,” Vincent said during a briefing Wednesday with a small group of media, including USA TODAY Sports. “You see ‘backers … the ‘backers down in Washington, they were coming over the top, trying to time it up and they missed and were falling on their heads. Those discussion points are on the table.”
Here’s to hoping this discussion goes nowhere – and that Hurts and the Eagles won’t be stunted by the rule book when they ramp up on the quest to repeat as Super Bowl champs. They’ve perfected a play, including timing and the alignment details that keeps penalty flags to a minimum, so let them have at it.
Other teams have tried their own variations, to varying degrees of success. Let them keep trying. And never mind the idea that it’s considered an automatic conversion for the Eagles. Just stop it. And not with a new rule.
‘I almost feel a little insulted because we work so hard at that play,’ Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said of the debate, alluding to techniques that have to be on point.
“It’s not an easy play to practice. The fact that it’s an automatic, we work really, really hard at it and our guys are talented at this play. It’s a little insulting to say just because we’re good at it, so it’s automatic. We work really hard at it.’
Todd Bowles knows. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach doesn’t see the need for a new rule. Instead, he points to creative strategies as the key.
That might seem surprising, coming from Bowles. Like Morris, Bowles has a deep background on defense. Then again, game recognizes game.
“The safety of it is always going to be a question because it’s a rugby-style play, but I have nothing against it,’ Bowles told Pro Football Talk. ‘You found guys that are being creative and found the niche and how to gain an edge in this league and that’s what we as coaches try to do on a daily basis.
“Now it’s up to defensive coaches to try to gain an edge to try to stop it. That’s the challenge of it every time someone brings something new, whether it’s on offense or defense. I’m all for it that way.’
Which sounds like quite the Brotherly Love.