Even the most powerful figures in the NFL were unable to stop the tush push.
A proposed ban of the tush push play that the Philadelphia Eagles have popularized did not receive enough votes at the spring meeting Wednesday.
Before the vote, retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce and team owner Jeffrey Lurie spoke to the owners to lobby for the merits of keeping the play.
Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the final vote was 22-10 on the proposal, which was submitted by the Green Bay Packers. The proposal needed 24 votes to pass.
In another vote, NFL owners approved a proposal to allow teams to declare an onside kick any time during a game when they are trailing. Players on the kicking team also will be lined up with their front foot on the 35-yard line with the rule change, one yard closer than previously.
Wednesday’s vote came after the league tabled discussions on the original proposal, submitted by the Green Bay Packers, last month at the NFL’s annual league meeting in Palm Beach, Florida.
The original proposal was written explicitly around the tush push play. Before the proposal was tabled the vote was split 16-16 among the 32 teams, sources told ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler.
The Packers resubmitted the proposal before the start of the spring meeting, revising the language to more broadly ban pushing or pulling the ball carrier anywhere on the field. In the proposal’s updated language, “offensive players cannot assist the runner except by individually blocking opponents for him.” The Packers also eliminated “immediately at the snap,” in the updated language.
The tush push appeared in only 0.28% of total plays last year, according to ESPN Research, but the Eagles and Buffalo Bills ran the play more often than other teams. The two combined to run 163 pushes in the past three seasons, more than the rest of the NFL combined, according to ESPN Research.
Not only did the Eagles and Bills run the play the most often, but they also were the most successful. They scored a touchdown or achieved a first down on 87% of their tush push attempts, according to ESPN Research, while the rest of the league was successful 71% of the time.
On Tuesday, a pair of prominent current Eagles players downplayed the significance of the assisted quarterback sneak. Wide receiver A.J. Brown said he didn’t have any thoughts on the vote, adding that, “It’s only 1 yard.” Left tackle Jordan Mailata, meanwhile, said the Eagles would just have to “do it with no push.”
“In terms of them banning the tush push, I hate that name, so I hope they do ban it — it’s a stupid name,” Mailata joked Tuesday.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor and Tim McManus contributed to this report.
