Let’s call it what it is Eagles fans. All ya’all would love for the Tush Push to stick around for the foreseeable future right? You might be singing a different tune if you were, God forbid, a Cowboys’ fan but you’re not so you definitely wouldn’t mind seeing a little more of what you’ve seen over the last three years – 27 touchdowns and 92 total first downs including 11 touchdowns and 32 first downs this past season on the way to a Super Bowl title via the Tush Push.
But like it or not a critical decision could be made on the future of said short yardage play that has been vital to the Birds’ sustained success since the play was introduced in 2022 when the NFL owners gather for their spring meeting May 20-21 in Eagan, Minnesota.
You might be asking yourself – wait, what happened to the vote on the Green Bay Packers’ proposed ban of the Tush Push that was supposed to happen Tuesday at the owner’s meetings in Palm Beach? That’s a great question. I was under the belief that the vote was supposed to happen yesterday but apparently, as you’ve all heard by now, the vote was tabled until next month. Huh?
When I heard why is when I put this latest little NFL off-season episode into the SHAM column.
Let’s do this first and foremost. If you’re at least a Boomer you might remember how on Saturday mornings in the 70’s Schoolhouse Rock taught us all how a bill became a law.
Sorry I don’t have cool animation or a cute, catchy tune to go along with my little lesson plan but here is how a rule or rule change is created in the NFL:
STEP 1 – At the end of each NFL season, teams complete a survey on player protection, officiating, competitive balance and technology.
STEP 2 – Responses inform the Competition Committee’s rules change proposals. Clubs may also submit proposals directly to the committee.
STEP 3 – The committee meets throughout the offseason to draft potential new rules and review team-submitted proposals
Step 4 – At the NFL Combine, the committee gathers input from active players, Legends, coaches and officials and finalizes its proposals. The committee’s and team-submitted proposals are then sent to all clubs ahead of the annual meeting in March.
STEP 5 – At the annual meeting, teams and the committee present their proposals to the 32 owners, who vote on any potential new rule. Clubs may also propose a new rule directly from the floor.
STEP 6 – A new rule or revision needs the support of 75 percent of owners (24 yes votes out of 32) to be adopted.
STEP 7 – Some rules are implemented on a trial basis for one year only. In those cases, the effects of the changes are reevaluated after the season to determine if they should be made permanent or further modified.
The NFL Can’t Handle the Truth
Now let’s talk about the truth. There’s your truth, my truth, absolute truth, and the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. For our purposes we’ll go with the “truth if you believe it as it is told to you”, the “truth by empirical data” and the “truth because we’re not stupid”.
Here’s what we may or may not know to be the truth with regards to the Tush Push vote:
The Competition Committee generally does not like to implement or change a rule that seems to target one or two teams. That goes under the first category of the truth if you believe it which you won’t if you read further.
2. The Packers’ proposal targets a specific legal play. That is the truth by empirical data.
3. The Packers’ have proposed to ban a specific legal play that has been largely unstoppable over the past three seasons by the Eagles, because they can’t stop it. That is the truth because we’re not stupid.
4. The Packers’ proposal was written specifically for the play, unlike most rule proposals, by prohibiting an offensive player from immediately pushing a teammate who is lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap. That is the truth by empirical data.
5. The NFL’s health and safety department had no data that suggested a single injury had occurred as a result of the Eagles or any other team using it. That is the truth by empirical data (or lack thereof).
6. A rule or change of rule needs 75% (24 of 32 owner votes) to pass. That is the truth by empirical data.
7. No vote was taken yesterday regarding the Tush Push proposal ban by the Packers. That is the truth by empirical data.
8. ESPN reported that 16 of the 24 teams needed to pass, supported the Packers’ proposal. That is only the truth if the report was accurate. If no vote was actually taken how would anyone be able to report that 16 teams are now supporting the Packers’ proposal?
9. A league rule existed that prohibited players to push ball carriers forward for much of its history before being changed in 2005 to allow it. That is the truth by empirical data.
10. During Tuesday’s meeting, committee chairman Rich McKay said, the Packers offered to change the focus on potentially reinstating the historic rule instead of specific language that targeted the Tush Push. That is a truth by empirical data.
Wham Sham Thank You Ma’am
Here’s why it is a SHAM of the highest order. The written by-laws of the NFL that constitutes how a rule is made, which I listed above, requires a 75% vote at the owners’ meetings in March to pass. So is the NFL making the rules up as they go? If the Packers didn’t come prepared with the proper language in their proposal then there still should have been a vote yesterday and if the Packers didn’t get their desired result then they should have to wait a year until the 2026 owners meetings to try again.
It appears that the Packers asked – what if we go broader and propose to eliminate the actions in question on any play at any time and the Committee said ok. What it is is an obvious loop hole that allows the proposal to ban the Tush Push to pass under the guise of not actually targeting the Eagles, which the committee has said they don’t like to do, because no one is able to stop the play. That is the truth because we’re not that stupid.
Although there was no injury data to support a ban, NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills did tell owners this week that the mechanics of the play could lead to injuries and some owners apparently warned their colleagues that a serious injury was just a matter of time. That is just plain stupid.
It’s football guys. ANY play in football can lead to an injury and a serious injury is ALWAYS just a matter of time. That is an absolute truth.
An unfortunate projection for Eagles’ fans is that the new Packers’ May proposal does get the 24 required owners’ votes to ultimately ban the Tush Push, by nefarious means, because there’s no representation from the Eagles’ organization on the Competition Committee and because no other NFL team can stop it and no other NFL team can replicate it to the highly successful rate that Philadelphia does. If that does wind up being the case then that would be a very inconvenient truth for the Eagles and their fans because nobody is stupid enough to believe otherwise.
But the real reason the Tush Push might be facing imminent extinction is because of what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said yesterday when he stated, “I think there are safety issues being considered with the tush push. We have very little data but we see the potential risk. It makes a lot of sense to go back to the old rule prohibiting pulling or pushing ball carriers.
And whatever Roger wants, Roger gets. Now ain’t that the truth.
