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Perhaps the most controversial play in the NFL these days is the Philadelphia Eagles’ “tush push” quarterback sneak play.
Used in short yardage situations, the “tush push” has been called a “cheat code” by Cowboys defensive star Micah Parsons.
Other defensive players that have fallen victim to the “tush push” have called the Eagles “p——” and “soft” and told them to “run a real play.”
The NFL and the NFLPA are both so concerned about the play, affectionately dubbed the “Brotherly Shove” in Philadelphia, that they are launching investigations into it after two Giants players were injured attempting it in a game against the Seahawks this year.
Even the GOAT himself, Tom Brady has concerns about the play.
Speaking on his Let’s Go! podcast this week, Brady expressed concern that the play could end up backfiring on the Eagles and getting their franchise quarterback, Jalen Hurts, well… hurt.
“The only thing I worry about in that particular play is they all know what’s coming when you line up in formation and that quarterback is going to take a lot of shots,” said Brady.
“I don’t know how many times you want your quarterback taking shots.
“So yeah, it’s effective for a one-yard gain but it might be ineffective someday when someone hits a right shoulder of the quarterback because they know it’s coming.
“So you may have some short-term gain, you may have some long-term pain, so they might have to come up with a tush toss or a tush push or some variation of the tush push to keep people honest because if they keep lining up and your teammate’s your quarterback, and even though Jalen is a pretty strong guy, you’re putting yourself in harm’s way.”
Brady certainly knows what he is talking about. He was one of the best practitioners of the quarterback sneak during his playing days.
Former NFL quarterback turned analyst Chris Simms got into trouble a couple of weeks ago for basically saying what Tom Brady said, only he didn’t express it quite so smoothly.
“If I was a defensive coach, I’d be going — go headhunting on the quarterback here, go ahead, dive over, go crazy, try to kill the quarterback,” Simms said.