After weeks of debates and cries of concern for player safety, the 32 owners of the NFL finally gathered to render a final verdict on the petition to ban the Philadelphia Eagles’ patented Tush Push. Despite the controversial nature of the play resulting in online scrutiny and calls for a more viewer-friendly product, a final vote of 22-10 will ensure that the play continues to be featured on the gridiron.
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Given the implications a ban would have had on their offense, the Eagles ensured that all hands were on deck throughout the final days and hours leading up to the vote. Despite being nominated for a Sports Emmy award for his efforts alongside NFL Films, Philadelphia’s former starting center, Jason Kelce, decided to skip out on the event to lobby on behalf of the franchise.
During a recent episode of The Adam Schefter Podcast, the longstanding NFL insider detailed Kelce’s attempt at playing house whip for the Eagles.
“He was supposed to be at the Emmys in New York on Tuesday night. Was scheduled to be there, was nominated for Outstanding Personality, and when I was in the audience there, on Tuesday night, and I noticed Jason Kelce wasn’t there when he was nominated, I said, ‘Ahh!’ He was in Minneapolis, the Eagles were hiding him out… They brought him in with Eagles owner, Jeffrey Lurie, they had him talk about exactly what we’re talking about here,” Schefter explained.
According to Schefter, Kelce, who arguably understands the technique behind the play just as well as anybody else in the NFL today, partnered with Lurie to speak directly with the other owners in an attempt to “…clarify how the play is coached and how it’s taught.”
Schefter also noted that the two made a “compelling case on safety,” one of the more heavily cited issues by those who were in favor of the ban.
Adam Schefter explains what’s next for the Tush Push play
While the Philadelphia faithful are likely hoping that this will be the end of controversy surrounding their coveted short-yardage cheat code, the NFL’s premiere insider suggests that challenges could arise once again in the future should there be any major incidents.
“It’s always possible that it’s brought up again next season… We know it’s going to be there in 2025. We’ll see how the season plays out, see whether there are any concerns, issues… Right now, the Tush Push is safe, right now. Does that mean it can’t come up again next year? No. But, for now, it lives at least for another season.”
For better or worse, the Tush Push has added a new wrinkle to the game of football. As offense’s continue to figure out new ways to usurp the efforts of the defense, pocket-pick play calls such as this are occasionally destined to become accepted parts of the meta.
Having now proven to be unstoppable both on and off of the field, it’s officially up to the remaining 31 NFL franchises to do something about it.
