The tush push became one of the most heated points of discussion during the NFL's annual league meetings in Florida earlier this week. The Green Bay Packers initially proposed to ban the tush-push, a play made famous by the Philadelphia Eagles, whose execution of the play is impeccable.
One of the primary arguments for those in support of banning the tush push is that the play puts player health and safety at greater risk, and the main reason the Buffalo Bills are in favor of banning the play.
According to a report from ESPN's Kalyn Kahler, after Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie spoke in defense of the play during Tuesday's meeting, Bills co-owner Terry Pegula responded to Lurie by saying that his future Hall of Fame center Jason Kelce retired due to "wear and tear from the tush push." Per Kahler, some people in the meeting room saw Pegula's comment as a joke.
Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy, who presented the proposal to ban the tush push, told reporters after that meeting, "I believe Jason Kelce has made public comments about, he's glad he's not involved in the play anymore because he felt it was pretty dangerous."
The comments from Pegula and Murphy appeared to reference what Kelce said during an appearance on the "Steam Room" podcast.
Kelce said during that appearance back in February, “For me, as a center, it sucks. It’s a grueling play where you’re going to get as low as possible . . . if I get grass on my facemask I probably did the play pretty good, because I got as low as possible and drove forward. If you get low and drive forward, it’s really hard for the defense to stop it.”
Days after Murphy and Pegula pointed to Kelce as a reason the tush push is "dangerous," Kelce called out Pegula for "misunderstanding" his quote and use of the word "grueling."
"I think the good gentleman from Buffalo appears to have misunderstood my meaning of the word grueling, I have never called the play dangerous," Kelce wrote Friday on X. "If the NFL wishes to summon me for legitimate thoughts on the tush push under oath, I’d be glad to give my testimony."
I think the good gentleman from Buffalo appears to have misunderstood my meaning of the word grueling, I have never called the play dangerous. If the NFL wishes to summon me for legitimate thoughts on the tush push under oath, I’d be glad to give my testimony. pic.twitter.com/WKhRMLa47b
— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) April 4, 2025
Kelce further enforced that he doesn't actually feel the tush push is unsafe during this week's episode of the "New Heights" podcast. "I get why some people think that it's potentially unsafe," Kelce said. "I think optically it looks unsafe. For me personally, I never felt like there's that much more more of a risk of injuring somebody on the play, and I don't think there's any statistics to back that up. ... I think the only argument I see for potentially banning it is—is there a competitive advantage? Is it unfair that players can push?"
Ultimately, no resolution came out over the proposal to ban the tush push at the league meetings, and the proposal has been tabled until May.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jason Kelce Calls Out Bills Owner for Misinterpreting His 'Tush Push' Comments.
