PALM BEACH, Fla. — Less than two months after the Philadelphia Eagles powered a tush push-heavy season to a Super Bowl title, the NFL has decided to table a vote on the play, Yahoo Sports has confirmed.
The decision was made in a Tuesday session of clubs at the NFL’s annual spring meeting at The Breakers resort. The next possible vote on it could be held on May 20-21 at the NFL's annual spring league meeting/coach accelerator in Minneapolis.
From one source with knowledge of the meeting: "Did not have the votes. Will study other language in the rule book." https://t.co/hElaYd8A3U
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) April 1, 2025
The tush push involves teammates, often including offensive linemen, pushing a ball carrier over a line to gain. The Eagles and Buffalo Bills ran it more times than the other 30 NFL teams combined in the last three years, per ESPN Research.
The Green Bay Packers introduced the proposal restricting any offensive player from “immediately at the snap, push or throw his body against a teammate, who was lined up directly behind the snapper and received the snap, to aid him in an attempt to gain yardage.”
The proposal needed at least 24 of 32 clubs’ affirmative votes to pass.
The Packers proposal cited “player safety” and “pace of play” as reasons to rule the play illegal, as the NFL has done with other plays recently including the hip-drop tackle.
The competition committee did not screen the proposal, committee chairman Rich McKay said.
Some wondered if it intentionally — and perhaps unfairly — targeted two teams for finding a successful strategy.
“The thing that nobody likes about this discussion that we're having … is the idea that the rule is directed towards two teams,” McKay, who’s also the Atlanta Falcons CEO, said last week over Zoom. “We've had many rules over the years that come in about some play or some tactic or something that was just never contemplated, that all of a sudden is ...
