The Philadelphia Eagles have made the “tush push” a much-talked-about concept among NFL circles.
The play, featuring quarterback Jalen Hurts, is a beefed-up quarterback sneak that sees multiple players lined up behind the quarterback to help push him forward — either for a first down or into the end zone.
The Eagles — though they don’t like to call it the “tush push” — have run the play so much that it’s become a science for them, but not everyone across the NFL has appreciated its effectiveness.
This offseason, the Green Bay Packers proposed to institute a 10-yard penalty related to the play. The penalty would be called for “immediately pushing” whoever takes the snap, which would essentially rule the “tush push” null and void.
Although the Packers proposed the rule change, it never made it to a formal vote, but there were some around the league who supported the idea. ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler is now reporting that on Tuesday’s informal voting session at the NFL owner’s meetings, there was a 16-16 split on the proposal. The Packers are now expecting to rewrite it to make it broader so that it doesn’t just target the Eagles’ “tush push,” and per Kahler, they will present the updated proposal at the next league meetings on May 20 and May 21.
In the meantime, though, there are some who think this is just the Packers trying to exact revenge on the Eagles for beating them twice this past season, including once in the playoffs.
“One general manager told ESPN Monday that the proposal ‘feels like sour grapes’ because the Packers lost twice to the Eagles in 2024 and the Eagles had become so successful at the play,” Kahler reported.
The anonymous GM suggested that the Packers were hiding behind the idea of player safety while in reality, they’re just looking to punish an Eagles franchise that they have a long history with. Outgoing Packers president Mark Murphy stated that he believes player safety is paramount to trying to get rid of the play, though. NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills even made presentations regarding the risk of injuries on that specific play, both at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine as well as the league meetings.
A team owner told ESPN that “[Dr. Sills said], ‘It’s not if but when a catastrophic injury occurs.'”
“Sills can speak for himself, but the angle of it and the nature and the makeup of the play really does lend itself [to injury],” Murphy explained. “The centers and the people right in the middle of it, you’ve got that much force on both sides. It is just a question; I think he is right.”
Ultimately, whether the Packers have sour grapes or if they are looking out for the safety of the players, this is a topic that will be tabled until they rewrite the proposal. They do seem to have a unified front on the matter, though.
“I don’t think it’s a great football play,” head coach Matt LaFleur said. “It’s more of a rugby play. And then some of the injury concerns we just want to get out in front of that and be a little bit more proactive than reactive.”
