Tush Push Ban Gaining Steam, But Will the Proposal Pass?
One of the biggest topics this off-season has been whether the Eagles Tush push be banned. Last year the discussion never got off the ground. But after it helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl, suddenly a lot of people around the NFL are keen on banning the play.
Call it cowardice, jealousy, hypocrisy. All of those adjectives are accurate for the people trying to ban the play. As we have discussed, none of the arguments in favor of banning it make any sense. It is not dangerous, as shown by there being 0 injuries recorded during the play, and it is a skill play, as shown by the fact only the Eagles and Bills ran it well.
Yet, there seems to be momentum to ban the play. A lot of people around the NFL are making those terrible arguments in favor of banning it.
In order for it to be banned, 24 of the 32 teams will have to vote to ban it. We know there is at least 1 vote against banning it, the Eagles. We know Bills coach Sean McDermott, the biggest hypocrite in the league right now, is in favor of banning it and is on the competition committee.
Again, he cites injury concerns, but his team ran it the 2nd most times last season. Not the QB Sneak the second most times, because sometimes they do a normal Sneak, but the actual push play. This begs the question of why he let his team do something he thinks is dangerous enough to be banned.
Related: Sean McDermott Has Worst Take On The Tush Push Yet
We also know the Packers, who submitted the proposal to ban it because they can’t stop it so they would rather ban it, are also going to vote to ban it. So the question becomes, are there 22 other votes in the NFL to ban the play?
Tush Push Being Debated In NFL Circles
According to an ESPN report, it has been a hotly debated topic. They added that Howie Roseman had an animated discussion with Sean McVay and Sean McDermott (both of whom are on the competition committee) at these meetings. And every single person there has been asked by the media to weigh in on the debate.
The ESPN report also showed the Tush Push has more defenders than we might see in the public discourse. Maybe because they don’t want to put their name on something when they are calling out the people trying to ban it.
One team told ESPN that they don’t think the Packers aren’t being honest about why they want it banned, and would therefore not vote to ban it. An NFL Coach told ESPN that the proposal is motivated by pettiness because some clubs don’t have a QB capable of running it. One Club Executive said it reeked of jealousy and called it weak.
“It’s punishing a team who became excellent at executing the play. In 2022, when Philadelphia was the only team doing it, there was a concern that it made the game less compelling because fourth-and-short was no longer in doubt. Then other teams copied it, and they can’t do it as well.“
Ultimately it will be up to the Owners. They vote on it Tuesday morning. If 24 of the 32 Owners want to ban it it will be banned. It is a very small margin, and the Eagles seem to have at least some allies on the matter.
For the fact that there is no injury data, and it would be a rule mostly only targeting 1 or 2 teams, it is hard to see it passing. People can whine as much as they want, say it is not pretty, and point to the disaster sequence in the NFC Championship game where the Commanders deliberately slowed the game down by going offside, but none of that is a good reason to ban it.
Until there is any proof behind the play being dangerous, or until it becomes a play every team can run and it makes short-yardage plays around the league automatic, there is no factual basis behind banning it. It is just pettiness and jealousy from teams who can’t run it themselves.
Expect the Tush Push to stay, and expect us to be back here next year with teams trying to ban it.
