The ‘tush push’, a play that has become synonymous with the Philadelphia Eagles’ recent success, could be banned by the NFL on Wednesday, but the reigning Super Bowl champions do not seem too concerned.
League owners are set to vote on a proposal to outlaw the play at the Spring meetings, with 24 votes needed for it to pass.
Should it do so, it will remove a significant weapon from the Eagles’ offensive arsenal.
The tush push, which sees the running back and tight end line up behind the quarterback and push him through the defensive line, has proven close to an unstoppable play for the Eagles in short-yardage situations and on the goal line.
Philadelphia finished the 2024 season third in the NFL in fourth down conversion rate, while quarterback Jalen Hurts finished fifth in the NFL in rushing touchdowns, finding the endzone 14 times on the ground.
For his career, 33 of Hurts’ 55 rushing scores have come from one yard out, pointing to the tush push’s devastating effectiveness on the goal line.
An initial vote on a proposal to ban the play by the Green Bay Packers was tabled at league meetings in April. The Packers have since submitted a broader resolution that would outlaw pushing or pulling the ball-carrier anywhere on the field, effectively making the tush push illegal.
Despite all their success running, the Eagles did not express much interest in the looming vote when asked about it on Tuesday.
“I don’t have any thoughts on it,” wide receiver A.J. Brown said. “It’s only 1 yard.”
Offensive tackle Jordan Mailata added: “They’re ruling [on] the push? I guess we’ll just do it with no push.”
He then joked: “In terms of them banning the tush push, I hate that name, so I hope they do ban it — it’s a stupid name.
“But I can’t control it, we can’t control it, so we don’t even worry about it. Right now, we’re just installing our schemes, whatever [offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo] is installing that day, that’s what we’re focused on because worrying about if they’re going to ban the tush push or not ain’t going to win us a championship.”
