The Tush Push may be pushed out after this season. According to a report by The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will make it a point to get rid of the short-yardage rugby scrum during the offseason.
As shared by Eagles website Outside DiBirds, Goodell will make a push himself to eliminate the play through the competition committee after the season ends.
“I was told by a league source that Goodell wants to see this play removed from the game permanently,” Russini’s article noted.
The Philadelphia Eagles have utilized the Tush Push, also known in the region as The Brotherly Shove, as often and as effectively as any team in football. With two players behind quarterback, the quarterback sneaks ahead while being pushed forward as the offensive line looks to create a scrum in the middle for the quarterback to roll over.
Though mimicked by other teams around the league, the Eagles are the only team to make it a near-unstoppable play. With a future Hall of Fame center in Jason Kelce and weight-room warrior in QB Jalen Hurts, who can squat 600 pounds, it’s had over a 90-percent success rate.
Other teams haven’t replicated that success. And the downsides are potential injuries. Earlier this year, the New York Giants had two players injured on the same play after using the Tush Push. More recently, defenses have tried to counter by timing the snap with little downside to a penalty that would cost them a couple of inches. In last weekend’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Eagles, an overtime thriller, Bills NT Jordan Phillips broke through the line before the snap, flattening the right guard. That runs the risk of injury and fights, two things Goodell wants to avoid.
After the Eagles introduced the idea last year, there was an expectation the league would address it in the offseason. But the competition committee punted on the notion, choosing to see if defenses could counter it in 2023, having an entire offseason to prepare. That was Mike Tomlin’s, who sits on the competition committee, explanation for why the play wasn’t addressed.
“I think we’re going to see the defensive coaches’ collective response to it in 2023,” Tomlin said during a guest appearance on a March episode of Ben Roethlisberger’s Footbahlin podcast. “And I think, probably, that’s what’s going to create the larger, broader discussion about whether or not it’s going to continue to exist.”
The Steelers have dabbled with the play, occasionally having WR Allen Robinson II align behind QB Kenny Pickett and surging forward.
But with Goodell’s backing, it sounds like the play will be outlawed at least in its current form. Legislating that will require some thought, and most likely, the league will disallow players to be pushed forward, though it calls into question if traditional quarterback sneaks will have to be modified too. Or if running backs in the middle of piles can’t be pushed forward by offensive linemen.
The competition committee meets multiple times in the offseason, but rule changes are most likely to be officially considered sometime in late March, though they can be tabled and revisited later in the year. In addition to this play, the league is expected to place some restriction, if not an outright ban, on “hip-drop” tackles that lead to a higher rate of injury. Defensive players have pushed back, arguing they’ll be left without a way to tackle a player in many instances.
