The Green Bay Packers made headlines for their desire to ban the "tush push" play at the NFL's annual league meetings.
A controversial play made famous by the Philadelphia Eagles, it has conveniently been a pain in the "tush" for opposing defenses to stop through the years. While the potential ban was tabled last week, Packers' president Mark Murphy is feeling optimistic about the chances for their proposal to eventually pass.
"I think it ended up in a good place," Murphy said in an interview with the Packers' YouTube channel. "We ended up tabling it but we had really good discussions. Talked a little bit about our safety concerns regarding the play, just kind of the style of the play. But good interaction with the league. So it'll be tabled. And then what we're going to do is, it'll be voted on in the May meeting."
Murphy pointed to the rule that was in place previously, saying you can't push or pull players. The league got rid of the rule in 2005 because, according to NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay, it was too hard for officials to officiate.
The Packers president is looking for some further discussions to take place on that since-removed rule, which is the reason for his optimism over a change being made.
"In 2005, the league did away with the rule that you couldn't push runners," Murphy said. "We're going to go back and see the language we had in 2004. I'm optimistic. I think there's enough people who kind of look at it and say it's really not good for the game. It's more a rugby play than a football play, just kind of go back to what used to be the rule."
That sets the stage for the next round of talks in May, but any rule change does require support from 24 of the NFL's 32 team owners.
Those who support and others who oppose ...
