The push sneak, popularly known as the “tush push,” was almost banned in the NFL over the summer. The Green Bay Packers proposed that the rule be changed citing the reason for the ban as an injury risk.
The Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst and Outgoing President Mark Murphy addressed the fact that their team is not successful against the play but stated that it is not the reason. “I know we’re not very successful against it, I know that”, Murphy said.
Murphy went further on his statement about the play, saying how it took no skill and was bad for the game. “I am not a fan of this play. There is no skill involved, and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less.”
The Packers didn’t want to ban this play for the better of the game but because they wanted to benefit themselves. They were simply trying to get an edge over other teams in the league.
The team that uses this play the most is the Philadelphia Eagles, who ran the play 39 times last season and were successful 32 times. They use the play so often that they call it the “Brotherly Shove,” a play on Philadelphia being the City of Brotherly love.
The play works like this: the quarterback lines up under-center with multiple players. Usually the running back, a tight end, and a receiver stand behind the quarterback.Once the ball is snapped the quarterback is pushed headfirst, this is very useful for gaining short yardage. The official rule change proposal was “offensive players cannot assist the runner except by individually blocking opponents for him.” This would change the play because the entire point is the players behind the quarterback push him.
Another team that is opposing the “tush push” is the Buffalo Bills. This is surprising considering the Bills run the play almost as much as the Eagles and are very successful at not only defending the play but also running it.
The Bills head coach Sean McDermott addressed the play and how it is an injury risk to the players, and why they support the ban. “To me, there’s always been an injury risk with that play, and I’ve expressed that opinion for the last couple of years or so when it really started to come into play the way it’s being used, especially a year ago,” said Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula. His team supported banning the play even though they are good at it.
On May 21, 2025, a meeting of all 32 teams head coaches, executives, and owners was held to debate and vote on the legality of the push sneak play. The event started with Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie making a passionate speech in defense of the play.
His speech lasted almost an hour, and after a while, the room started to get very tense. The San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York made an inappropriate comment, and that was when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decided to call off the debate.
They then moved on to the “privileged session”, where only the team owners could attend. The vote was held, and the results were shocking.
The play needed 24 votes to ban it, but it only received 22. Everyone believed the play would be banned, even Eagles Owner Lurie, who stated he believed the odds the play was considered legal were “slim”.
This means the play can still be used in the 2025 – 2026 season, but we will see if there is another vote next summer. In their week two game this year, the Eagles ran the tush push 7 times.
This is outrageous, no play has ever been run that many times by any team ever. The ban this off season didn’t work, but the league definitely needs to try again next season. This play is bad for the league, and it takes no skill. The Eagles need to be stopped because it has gone too far already.
