EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Facing stiff resistance around the NFL, the tush push managed to move the chains and gain a fresh set of downs.
League owners narrowly failed to pass a proposal to prohibit the polarizing short-yardage strategy at their spring meetings in Minnesota on Wednesday, keeping the rulebook as is — and pleasing the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
The ban on offensive players from pushing, pulling, lifting, grasping or encircling a runner was supported by a 22-10 vote, according to a person with knowledge of the proceedings, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the details weren’t made public. That’s two votes short of the three-quarters majority required by league bylaws to pass it.
The health and safety committees for both the players and the owners and the league’s competition committee all unanimously recommended the proposal, which was formally brought forward by the Green Bay Packers at the previous league meetings in Florida seven weeks ago and tabled for further discussion. Such a ban previously existed and was lifted 20 years ago because it was deemed too difficult to consistently enforce.
“We don’t set a low bar,” said Atlanta Falcons chief executive officer Rich McKay, the chairman of the competition committee. “There was a lot of support for it, a lot of discussion about it. I’ve been in that room numerous times where we’ve had these types of discussions, where one team ends up being, in their mind, more impacted than others. It still takes 24 votes, and in this case those votes were not there.”
The Eagles brought former center Jason Kelce, one of the players who fueled the success of the tush push, to the meetings to provide a first-hand account of the play that assigns a teammate to push the backside of the quarterback for extra power behind a tight nine-man line. Blockers on the end sometimes pivot to try to pull the ball carrier past the marker, too.
Immediately after the vote, the Eagles posted a picture on social media of quarterback Jalen Hurts on the verge of a short-yardage attempt against the Packers with the caption, “Push on.” Then they posted to their YouTube page a 26-minute tush push highlight montage.
Kelce, a seven-time Pro Bowl pick who retired after the 2023 season, said recently he wasn’t as concerned about a ban of the tush push as he was about clearing up misconceptions it poses an injury risk and was partially responsible for his decision to end his career.
“I’ll come out of retirement today if you tell me all I’ve got to do is run 80 tush pushes to play in the NFL,” Kelce said on the New Heights podcast with his brother Travis Kelce. “I’ll do that gladly. It’ll be the easiest job in the world.”
Kelce declined comment as he departed the meetings at the Omni Viking Lakes Hotel next to Vikings team headquarters, where Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie led an impassioned defense of the maneuver his team developed into a nearly unstoppable play with the coinciding arrival of Hurts in 2020. The NFL has no conclusive data supporting a connection between the tush push and an increased risk of injury, as Lurie has noted. He said he was pleased by the vote result but declined further comment.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said with a laugh in a brief interview with reporters he had to make sure he was voting against the play and not just against the rival Eagles, emphasizing his belief that the debate was good for the game regardless of the outcome of the vote.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said he didn’t take a stance and was instead simply focusing on fostering a “full discussion” of the issue of aiding quarterbacks in their plunges into the line.
The competition committee three years ago raised concern about the pushing and pulling of ball carriers further down the field, McKay said, and will emphasize again the importance of officials declaring dead a play that develops into a scrum even if the mass of bodies prevents them from seeing if the runner is down.
Division winners can stay home for now
The Detroit Lions withdrew their proposal to reseed teams for the playoffs — in order of record rather than awarding the first four spots to division winners — before a vote was taken.
Like the tush push ban, this is an issue that could well come up again in the near future, particularly if an 18-game regular-season schedule is implemented. Goodell said there was no discussion of the additional game, which players oppose, during the meetings this week.
One step closer to recovering an onside kick
In light of the drastic kickoff changes before last season that became permanent this year with some further alterations, owners approved Wednesday a tweak to the onside kick.
With the goal of increasing the recovery rate, teams may now try them at any point in the game when trailing rather than just in the fourth quarter. Kicking team players, other than the kicker, can also move 1 yard forward to give them a better chance at the ball.
Leadership diversity program rework is underway
The NFL took some heat for recently removing from the meeting lineup the latest edition of the accelerator program designed to increase diversity in the coaching ranks, but Goodell said he wasn’t concerned about the perception that the pause might have been for political reasons.
The program will return at the spring meetings next year while league officials examine ways to make it more effective and efficient, Goodell said, including the potential for increased interaction between coaching prospects and general managers.
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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi and AP Sports Writer Larry Lage contributed.
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