The National Football League (NFL) has just taken a huge stand. They’ll keep the hugely controversial, but hugely entertaining, “tush push” play — popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles — in the game. The proposal to ban the production didn’t pass. It was well short of the majority 24 votes required, but was ultimately tabled to a 16-16 stalemate among the league’s 32 franchises. The result is a huge win for the Eagles, who have taken on a reputation as the team best known for the play.
Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie delivered an especially impassioned speech. It lasted nearly an hour and was a fiery defense of the tush push. His comments turned the tide in favor of passage on the day of the meeting. He underscored the competitive nature of the play while providing familiar strategic advantages.
Veteran center Jason Kelce went to bat for Lurie’s defense. He did an incredible deep dive and even used clips from the game itself to show how the tush push works. In developing this presentation we hoped to mitigate any safety concerns that could be related to the outdoor play. Kelce said he was concerned about the confusion over misconceptions related to the injury risk associated with the tush push.
That was the case last year, where teams ran the tush push play in just 0.28% of their plays. Though it was seldom utilized, it sparked extreme debates about the protection of players versus the strategy of gameplay. The Eagles and Buffalo Bills were head and shoulders above the rest of the league in their use of the play, and with a robust success rate, at that. The Eagles converted a touchdown or first down on 87% of their attempts, with Kelce fueling the production. To compare, the rest of the league had a 71% conversion rate.
There are great examples of Kelce’s tush push archetype. He and his fellow Eagles players performed an astounding 163 tush pushes over the last three seasons, leading the rest of the NFL by a wide margin. This intense level of use surely played a role in bringing the play under unprecedented scrutiny and leading to the debate over the play’s future.
A number of other teams were strongly against the proposal. This consisted of players on the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans. Their council votes to oppose the ban were instrumental in making sure the tush push won’t be getting the boot from NFL strategy anytime soon.
Rich McKay, chairman of the NFL’s Competition Committee, spoke to reporters after the vote. Notably, discussions over improving player safety are often the focal point of contentious negotiations between teams.
“I’ve been in that room numerous times where we’ve had these types of discussions and one team really ends up being in their mind more impacted than others. It still takes 24 votes. In this case, those votes were not there. So, the rule will stay as it is.” – Rich McKay
Art Rooney II’s statement on the results read,
“I don’t think it’s the end of the world that it’s not banned.” – Art Rooney II
The debate over the tush push continues to get fiery. It is no doubt a robust resource for teams looking to get an advantage on the diamond. Dallas Cowboys scout Stephen Jones testified to being hooked after hearing Kelce’s pitch.
“It doesn’t feel like he’s in any more of a precarious position to be injured than any other play, any other play from scrimmage.” – Stephen Jones
The NFL is likely to reexamine issues around such downfield scrums and player-pushing in future ownership meetings. For now, teams can continue to employ the tush push as part of their offensive strategies without fear of immediate changes to league rules.
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