By Reuters
May 19, 2025 – 7:42 PM PDT
The Philadelphia Eagles are not sitting back quietly as a vote among NFL owners looms to potentially ban the “tush push” play.
As reported by The Athletic, the team is actively calling other franchises to campaign for their iconic play to remain legal in the NFL.
Their effort comes on the heels of the Green Bay Packers’ push of their own. In a March proposal, the Packers introduced a potential rule change that would prohibit any offensive player from pushing another player from behind immediately after the team receives a snap.
Under the Packers’ proposal, the offense would be penalized 10 yards for a push violation.
The Packers cited player safety and pace of play as a justification for banning the play, which has become known as “tush push” and “brotherly shove,” after the Eagles began running the play more frequently during the 2022 season.
The Packers tweaked their proposal on Monday. The revision would mandate that “offensive players cannot assist the runner except by individually blocking opponents for him.” Wording stating that such help “immediately at the snap” would be banned was also eliminated.
Philadelphia ranked in the top 10 for fourth-down conversions and top five in conversion percentage in each of the past three seasons, largely boosted by the tush push. Last year, the Eagles converted 70.4 percent of their conversions, fourth-best in the NFL.
League owners tabled the vote last month, but an informal vote indicated that teams were split 16-16 on the issue. Banning the play would require 24 teams to vote in favor of the Packers’ rule proposal. Team owners are expected to convene in Minneapolis on Wednesday and Thursday to vote on various topics.
“There are definitely some people that have health and safety concerns, but there’s just as many people that have football concerns, and that was kind of what went on in the room with the discussion,” Rich McKay, chairman of the NFL competition committee, said last month. “So I wouldn’t say it was because of one particular health and safety video or discussion.
“It was much more about the play, the esthetics of the play, ‘Is it part of what football has been traditionally, or is it more of a rugby play?’ All those types of discussions.”
While appearing on “Good Morning Football” on NFL Network, Washington Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu suggested that league owners should ban the “tush push,” describing it as “kind of like a cheapo play.”
“That’s pretty much a scrum in rugby,” Luvu said. “That’s how I kind of look at it. And we’ve got to have a scrum, too, on the other side. And the scrum is, we have a cadence where we all go at once. It’s not like you hard count and this and that, where now you’re getting us — or myself — jumping over the pile thinking that you’re going to snap the ball.
“That’s just my own personal opinion, and I’m going to leave it at that.”
Luvu was infamously penalized on three consecutive snaps in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game after diving over the line of scrimmage before the snap in an attempt to stuff the tush push. Other players then prematurely jumped on the ensuing play.
Following the third penalty, referee Shawn Hochuli announced that the Commanders were informed that the referees can award a touchdown if those actions were to continue. While Washington did not jump offside on the next play, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts scored a touchdown by himself.
In addition to the tush push ban, two other rule-change proposals are to be voted on this week.
The Detroit Lions are proposing a revision to playoff seeding. The seven playoff teams in each conference would be determined as they have been, but all teams would be seeded based on their records, rather than having the four division winners automatically secure spots No. 1 through No. 4. The top team in each conference would earn a first-round bye and matchups would be determined by seed.
Last year, the Lions went 15-2 to secure the NFC’s best record before losing in the divisional playoff round to the Washington Commanders, who had the conference’s third-best record at 12-5. In the proposed format, the top seed would play the lowest-remaining seed in the second round.
Also on the docket is an alteration to the onside kickoff rules. Teams would be allowed to declare their intent to attempt an onside kick at any time while trailing during a game. They are currently permitted only in the fourth quarter for teams that are behind. Teams would also be allowed to line up 1 yard closer to the receiving team.
–Field Level Media