The controversial tush push play that was popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles narrowly survived a vote today at the NFL owners meeting. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on X, the Pittsburgh Steelers were among the 22 votes in favor of banning the play.
Needing two additional votes to pass the proposal and ultimately ban the play, the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, and Tennessee Titans were the teams that voted against the rule change proposal.
With no solid evidence of player safety concerns, this may mean the tush push is here to stay for the foreseeable future unless tangible evidence surfaces to the contrary.
The competition committee, along with all of the other rules and safety committees in the NFL, were in favor of pushing this to a vote among the owners. Mike Tomlin is a prominent figure in the competition committee and has been for a long time, so it’s no surprise to hear that the Steelers voted in favor of the ban.
Tomlin has expressed hesitance in the past because he didn’t want to unfairly punish one team for doing something well with the caveat that player safety should be a consideration. During March’s meetings, Art Rooney II stated that he was in favor of the ban under the original proposal, which wasn’t quite as broad as the proposal they voted on this morning.
With the Steelers being one of the worst teams in the league at converting on 3rd or 4th and short, could they use this green light from the NFL as an opportunity to work the tush push into their game plan on offense? It might be best for them to approach this under the old saying that “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
