'Tush push' ban on the verge of passing?

A little over a month ago, efforts towards a league-wide rule that would essentially ban the short-yardage play that has come to be known as the “tush push” fell short — the Packers’ proposal reportedly failed 16-16 in a 32-team vote, and three-fourths (or 28) teams are required to pass a vote. According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, we could see a new motion pass later this month that would effectively ban the play.

It’s believed that the Packers’ proposal was “narrowly configured and written,” aiming too directly at the Eagles (and Bills, who have also frequently utilized the play). It attempted to prohibit “an offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap,” making the action worthy of a 10-yard penalty.

The new version of the proposal is currently unwritten, as it has not yet formally been modified, but it will move its focus to pushing or pulling ball carriers anywhere on the field. While no injury data has really shown any direct harm from the play, NFL health and safety officials have expressed injury-related concerns about it. This would potentially act as a reversal of a rule change in 2006 that made it legal to push or pull players as part of a football play.

Obviously, this doesn’t apply to blocking and tackling situations, in which pushing and pulling are natural parts of the game. What this new wording could affect is plays in which a ball-carrier gets stood up by a defender but remains upright and another offensive player begins to push the two players up the field, sometimes resulting in a scrum that can surge forwards or backwards several yards. Plays like this have often been viewed as hustle plays, in which offensive linemen are lauded for churning out some extra yards, so it would be interesting to see such a play become a penalty.

The play could also address another league concern, and a play that has already seen several rule adjustments: field goal rushing. Some coaches have connected the new proposal to a previous rule change that prohibits defensive players from pushing teammates to aid in attempting to block a field goal attempt. There’s a chance the new wording of the rule would prevent defenders from pushing or pulling any players they haven’t engaged with in either a block attempt or tackle attempt, meaning an offensive player couldn’t push a teammate into a defender to block them or a defensive player couldn’t push a teammate into a blocker or ball-carrier.

Such intricacies of a proposal like this are likely why it has not yet been formally changed, but there’s an expectation that it will be ready in time for the owners meeting in Minneapolis on May 20-21. Confidence that the proposal will pass this time around stems from a belief that the league office is in support of the rule change, per Mike Florio of NBC Sports. Florio states that, if his sense that the league office wants to get rid of the maneuver is accurate, they might twist some arms to achieve the eight additional votes they need to pass the proposal.