By Courtney Knight
Boston University News Service
The Green Bay Packers have taken a bold step, becoming the first NFL team to formally propose action against the Tush Push, one of the most debated quarterback sneak plays in the game.
Just a day after the proposal, Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, announced that a league team made the suggestion. Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst confirmed that his team was behind it.
The Tush Push, also known as the Brotherly Shove in honor of its success in Philadelphia, is a play typically used to secure a first down or to score a touchdown near the goal line. In this play, the offensive line pushes the defense back while the quarterback positions himself behind them. He is then propelled forward by the running back and tight end, driving through the defensive line.
Since the Philadelphia Eagles popularized the play in 2022, they have seen unrivaled success with it. According to Sporting News, the Eagles saw a 92.6 percent success rate on 27 attempts in 2022 and were successful 83.3 percent of the time on 42 attempts in 2023.
Two primary factions are challenging the play: one argues that it poses safety concerns and increases the risk of injury, while the other criticizes it for providing an almost unstoppable advantage to the Eagles—and potentially any team that can execute it.
For those citing injury risk for the ban, data on tush-push-related injuries is minimal. In fact, recent NFL data reports that no players were injured as a result of the play during the 2024 season.
Jason Kelce, former Eagles center and key component of the Brotherly Shove during his time in Philadelphia, defended the maneuver in a recent episode of his podcast, “New Heights.”
“I would want to ban it too if we sucked at it and it wasn’t a mechanical advantage,” said Kelce.
The now-retired offensive lineman went on to explain why he believes the play doesn’t give the offensive team an unfair advantage.
“My argument to that is, you guys can push too. It’s not like you’re just pushing on the offensive side. You guys can hunker down in there and push and accumulate mass.”
Kelce also made a point to discuss how some critics argue that the play resembles something more akin to rugby than to the more skill-intensive plays seen in football.
President and CEO of the Packers Mark Murphy claimed that there was “no skill involved” in the play, and went as far as to say it’s “bad for the game” in his monthly column on the team’s website.
Others, like coaches Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills and Raheem Morris of the Atlanta Falcons, have been open about their disapproval of the play since it was revealed that a proposal had been filed.
The likelihood of the play actually being banned is uncertain for now. In past offseasons, the NFL competition committee has met to discuss the play but has never taken any action. Green Bay’s proposal marks the first time there has been a formal attempt to eliminate it.
A vote on the proposal could take place during the League’s annual meeting, scheduled between March 30-April 2 in Palm Beach, Florida. During this meeting, team owners review proposals submitted by both the competition committee and individual teams. For the proposal to pass, it would need approval from 24 of the NFL’s 32 owners.
To see the Tush Push in action, check out this video.
