Report: NFL owners expected to vote to ban 'tush push' play

The Philadelphia Eagles‘ famous “tush push” play is expected to be banned when the NFL owners come together Wednesday. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported it’s likely on its way out despite Philly’s best efforts to keep it in the rotation.

“Hours away from the owners’ vote surrounding the future of the tush push, I’m told both the league’s competition and players’ health and safety committees have voted to ban the play,” Russini wrote on Twitter. “Despite the Eagles’ best efforts, the tush push is likely on its way out, sources say.”

In order for the play to be banned, 24 of 32 owners must vote to take it out of the game. That seems to be the move coming Wednesday.

Many have weighed in on the tush push, saying it’s a safety issue, it’s not a real football play, it’s unfair, etc. Others took the other side of the aisle, like ESPN’s Field Yates.

“My two cents on the Tush Push: If there is data that shows the play puts players at a greater health risk than a normal football play, there’s reason to modify it,” Yates wrote on Twitter. “To this point, I haven’t seen any such data. Right now, it just feels like taking away a wrinkle that one team thrives at more than the rest.”

Initially, the tush push issue was tabled until these meetings in May. The Green Bay Packers were at the forefront of pushing, no pun intended, the ban. They even submitted a revised proposal this week.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni defended the tush push after learning about the original ban proposal. Some consider it to be an automatic play, but Sirianni denied that take.

“I’ve seen some of the stuff that it’s an automatic play or that it’s not,” Sirianni said, per NFL.com. “We work really, really [hard]. I almost feel a little insulted because we work so hard at that play. The amount of things that we’ve looked into how to coach that play, the fundamentals. There’s a thousand plays out there, but it comes down to how you teach the fundamentals and how the players go through and do the fundamentals.

“I can’t tell you how many times we practiced the snap. We practice the play because it’s not a play that’s easy to practice, so there’s different ways we figured out how to practice it.”