Sometimes football is a game of inches. Which team will get that one extra yard?
The Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles have perfected the art of gaining that yard with their controversial tush push play, and they’ll now be able to use it for at least another season. On Wednesday, May 21, the NFL rejected a proposed ban on the play during the league’s annual spring meeting.
What was the debate all about?
The short yardage play requires teammates to push the quarterback into, and sometimes through, a pile of linemen. According to multiple reports, the play survived by a vote of 22-10. The Green Bay Packers proposed the ban at the end of the 2024 season and needed 24 votes to pass it.
The debate over whether the play should continue raged for months, with opponents saying it was unsafe. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur argued the play didn’t belong in the game due to its “rugby” qualities. Others, like Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, said to stop complaining.
“If you don’t like it, get better at stopping it,” Barkley said. “It’s not like a play that we only can do, everybody does it. Everybody tries it, we’re just super successful at it. They were super successful before I was there, so I know what it does to a team.”
Which team is the best when using the tush push?
Barkley, however, is only half right. The Eagles were certainly successful scoring a touchdown or getting a first down on 87% of their tush push plays, but not everyone does it.
According to ESPN, the Eagles have accounted for over one-third of the NFL’s attempts since 2022. They also have over half of the NFL’s touchdowns with that play (27), including scores in this past season’s NFC championship and Super Bowl. Buffalo is a distant second in the league with 11 touchdowns during that span.
Before the vote, the man who helped make the play a mainstay, retired Eagles center Jason Kelce along with team owner Jeffrey Lurie, lobbied the owners on the merits of keeping it. During the scouting combine in February, Lurie told reporters he was not concerned about the play with regard to player safety.
“I think for everybody, including myself especially, health and safety is the most important thing when evaluating any play,” Lurie said. “We’ve been very open to whatever data exists on the tush push, and there’s just been no data that shows that it isn’t a very, very safe play. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t be pushing the tush push.”
After the vote to reject the ban, the team celebrated with a post on social media that included an image of the infamous play against the Green Bay Packers, accompanied by the words “Push On.”
Was there any other news to come out of the league meetings?
Like the Eagles, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to hear some good news as the league meetings wrap up in Minnesota. Reports say his contract extension will be approved by the owners. Goodell, now 66 years old, has been commissioner since 2006. This would be his 5th contract extension. His most recent was 2023, when he reportedly earned over $63 million per year.
One more big proposal on the docket was pulled off the table Wednesday. The Detroit Lions decided not to go through with a vote to change the format for playoff seeding after they learned their effort would not have the votes to pass.
On Tuesday, May 20, NFL owners voted unanimously to allow their players to compete in flag football in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
