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The Tush Push may be the most controversial NFL play since the invention of the forward and it may soon come to an end. Despite the NFL routinely shutting down talks about the play being banned, it now seems as if that’s much more of a possibility than initially believed after receiving support from the league’s competition committee.
The NFL ruled in February that the controversial play does not cause excess injury to defensive players. But now Kaylyn Kahler of ESPN reports that the NFL’s competition committee has shown strong support for banning the play which could lead to a league-wide vote at this week’s league meetings.
Kahler reports that “Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, assistant general manager Jon Ferrari and two head coaches on the competition committee, Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams and Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills, gathered in a hallway outside of the ballroom to have a private and animated side conversation about the Packers’ proposal.”
But there’s still controversy surrounding the decision. Particularly, that controversy surrounds the facts that the rule would seemingly specifically target two teams: the Eagles and Buffalo Bills. Kahler reports than only Philly and Buffalo ran the But only two teams, Philadelphia and Buffalo, ran the play more than five times last season.
“It’s weak,” an NFL executive said about the proposed ban. “It’s punishing a team who became excellent at executing the play. In 2022, when Philadelphia was the only team doing it, there was a concern that it made the game less compelling because fourth-and-short was no longer in doubt. Then other teams copied it, and they can’t do it as well.
“It reeks of jealousy.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni seems to agree. The Super Bowl-winning head coach told NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo that former assistants “(Jonathan) Gannon, (Shane) Steichen and (Kellen) Moore better vote for it. They are in the (head coach) position right now because of that play. So all three, I better have those three votes right there and the Eagles’ vote. I at least know we have four.”