The Philadelphia Eagles have used their elite offensive line and powerful quarterback Jalen Hurts to nearly perfect the quarterback sneak over the last few seasons, designing a play that has become known as the "tush push" (or in Philly, the "brotherly shove").
The play design—which has a pair of players line up behind Hurts and push him forward into the heart of the defense—has drawn scrutiny from the start, with detractors arguing that it looks more like a rugby scrum than a football play and bringing up player safety concerns. Others have defended the play, citing the fact that the Eagles have only received pushback because they've nearly perfected the play thanks to their personnel. Plenty of teams have copied the tush push, but none have found the same consistent success as Philadelphia.
The Green Bay Packers proposed a change to the rule, calling for the league 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."
NFL franchises were set to vote on the proposal Tuesday morning at the league's owners meetings, but it has been tabled for at least another month as they continue to argue their sides.
The tush-push ban has been tabled until May, per source.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 1, 2025
According to The Athletic's Dianna Russini, the Eagles and their fellow pro-tush push allies aren't celebrating the tabling as a win, as it keeps the window open for further tweaks to the language of the rule.
According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, no vote was held on the potential rule change.
"Rich McKay asked the room if they wanted to look at the 2004 language (the last year pushing a teammate was illegal), and discuss and study that. About 20 teams said they did. So the subject was tabled until May," he reported.
Defenders of the tush push stated that no evidence has been provided that the play actually poses an outsized risk to player health and safety. A number of voices around the league, including those with no connection to the Eagles, have defended the franchise's ability to execute at a higher level.
"There's a lot of plays that you have to defend, whether that's quarterback sneaks, whether that's read zone—there's a lot of plays that are hard to defend, and I don't think that you can get rid of them every time that you have a tough time stopping it," New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel told ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio Monday. "I mean, Lamar Jackson shouldn't be able to run with the football anymore, how about making that rule? Like that's tough to defend."
NFL rule changes require approval from 75% of the league's teams, or 24 of the 32 franchises. The league's owners have also unanimously passed a change to the regular season overtime rules, which will allow both teams to have an offensive possession, and have approved the expansion of instant replay assist.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Owners Table Tush Push Decision for Another Month.
