The Green Bay Packers have submitted a proposal to the NFL to ban the Philadelphia Eagles’ “tush push” play.
Philadelphia popularized the “tush push” play over the past few seasons and has become the best team in the NFL at executing it. The play requires multiple players to line up behind the quarterback and push him forward in short-yardage situations.
This play helped Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts rush for the fifth-most rushing touchdowns (14) in 2024, with many of these touchdowns coming from within just one or two yards of the endzone.
Now, Green Bay has filed a proposal to ban the play for the upcoming 2025 season, with the biggest concern reportedly being the safety of the players.
Packers Team president and CEO Mark Murphy has been vocal about his dislike for the play in the past, writing before Super Bowl LIX that “There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less.”
“I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the runner (QB) on this play. There used to be a rule prohibiting this, but it is no longer enforced because I believe it was thought to be too hard for the officials to see,” wrote Murphy on the team website.
“The play is bad for the game, and we should go back to prohibiting the push of the runner. This would bring back the traditional QB sneak. That worked pretty well for Bart Starr and the Packers in the Ice Bowl.”
Although Green Bay has filed the proposal for seemingly different reasons, another concern with the “tush push” is that players can easily get injured.
Buffalo Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott is one of four coaches on the NFL competition committee and said he understands why there are safety concerns, noting that player health should be the most important aspect of the game.
“There’s always been injury risk, and I’ve expressed that opinion over the last couple of years when it really started to come into play the way it’s being used, especially a year ago,” McDermott said, per NFL.com.
“I just feel like player safety and the health and safety of our players has to be at the top of our game, which it is. It’s just that play to me – or the way that the techniques that are used with that play to me – have been potentially contrary to the health and safety of the players. Again, you have to go back in fairness to the injury data on the play, but I just think the optics of it, I’m not in love with.”
NFL executives and owners will discuss the proposal later in the offseason, per NBC Sports. However, for the proposal to be approved, at least 24 teams must agree on the banishment.