The Eagles and the rest of the NFL can still “tush push” in 2025. Wednesday morning, at the NFL owners’ meeting, the Green Bay Packers’ proposal to ban the controversial play did not receive the 75% support needed. Ten teams voted against the proposal, including the Eagles, Patriots, Lions, Ravens, and Jets, per Diana Russini of The Athletic.
The Packers and Bills, among other teams, have stressed issues like player safety and pace of play when arguing against keeping the play legal. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has repeatedly pointed out that there is zero evidence of any player safety issues on the play.
Lurie reportedly addressed the owners for 30 minutes before this morning’s vote, explaining that “Whoever votes to ban this play is taking liability for putting risk on our quarterbacks.” Afterwards, Lurie had former Eagles center Jason Kelce speak to the owners. Kelce, whose recent retirement has been used by other owners as evidence of the plays’ safety issues, explained the reason for his appearance on his New Heights Podcast:
After Kelce spoke, the league ended the general session and headed into an owners-only privileged session to vote on the proposal. The ban was two votes short of passing, with 22 of the 24 teams needed.
The proposal to ban the “tush push” was tabled a month ago at the April owners’ meetings. Roger Goodell’s dislike of the play was widely reported then, as was his decision to table the proposal to garner more support. Green Bay eventually sent in a revised proposal with broader language to be voted on.
The controversy swirling around the play came to a head during this year’s NFC Championship Game. The Commanders continued intentionally going offside while trying to time the snap count at the goalline. The referees eventually warned Washington that one more penalty would result in an automatic touchdown for the Eagles.
Expect the play to be scrutinized even more this season. Conspiracy-minded fans may even accuse opposing teams of faking injuries to help support any proposals next offseason. The Jacksonville Jaguars under former head coach Doug Pederson did have some success stopping the play, mainly deploying defensive tackles and other bigger defenders across the defensive line.
Washington’s strategy was dumb, and caused a lot of this mess – NFL fans do not like the idea of automatically awarding touchdowns. What the Commanders attempted was unsafe, ineffective, and smacked of poor sportsmanship.
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