Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
The Green Bay Packers have proposed a prohibition of the Tush Push, a play commonly used by the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills during games. The Tush Push occurs when the quarterback catches the ball after the snap and runs into a pile of players pushing against each other to get to either the line of scrimmage or the end zone. Fans affectionately call it when the offensive linemen push the quarterback over the mass of players by the tush to gain a first down or a touchdown.
According to ESPN, Buffalo Bills’ head coach Sean McDermott is in favor of banning the tush-push, while other coaches, including Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen, are against prohibiting the tush push. Part of the argument to ban the tush push is health and safety concerns, but no injuries have been reported from a Tush Push.
According to AP News, the NFL Competition Committee Chairman Rich McKay can be quoted as saying, “There are some people that have health and safety concerns, but there’s just as many people that have football concerns, So I wouldn’t say it was because of one particular health and safety video or discussion. It was much more about the play, the aesthetics of the play, is it part of what football has been traditionally, or is it more of a rugby play? All those types of discussions. Health and safety is still there because of potential, but I wouldn’t go beyond that.” about the potential Tush Push ban.
Previously, the NFL banned pushing or pulling a player until a rule change was made in 2004. McKay said that the Packers asked to pull the previous rule so they could eventually reintroduce the language in it and ban the Tush Push. For a rule change to pass, it needs 24 votes out of the 32 votes available.
Other rules did pass in the session, including rules that make regular-season overtime rules the same as playoff overtime rules, and the Dynamic Kickoff rule was given permanence as well. Detroit’s proposal for playoff seeding based on winning percentage was tabled until May with the Tush Push rule.
The NFL Website quotes Roger Goodell as saying, “There’s a dispute about how long that rule was in play. But the reality of it is that I think that makes a lot of sense in many ways, because I think it expands it beyond just that single play. There are a lot of plays where you see someone pulling or pushing someone that are not in the tush push formation that I think do have an increased risk of injury. So I think the committee will look at that and come back in May with some proposals.”
The future of the Tush Push rule remains uncertain until the Spring League meeting, which is set to happen from May 20-21 in Minneapolis. At that meeting, NFL fans will find out if they can expect to see the tush push play on their screens during the next season and playoffs.
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