Debate over the tush push led to a heated exchange between NFL owners and league executives Wednesday morning during the league meeting in Eagan, Minnesota, multiple sources with firsthand knowledge told ESPN.
The discussion occurred during of what is called a “general session,” which is attended by owners and team and league executives.
Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie made an impassioned speech in defense of the play. The Eagles and the NFL declined comment, but sources close to Lurie told ESPN that he had seen reports from earlier in the day that the tush push was going to be banned, and so he figured the odds of the play’s survival were long.
Toward the end of a speech that lasted close to an hour, Lurie made an analogy, telling the room that regardless of whether the play was banned, it was a “win-win” for the Eagles, adding that it was “like a wet dream for a teenage boy” to create a play that was so successful that the only way for it to be stopped was for it to be banned.”
After Lurie finished speaking, executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent chastised the Eagles owner for the “wet dream” comment, specifically for saying it in front of women in the meeting.
Lurie spoke for several more minutes, adding that whoever voted to ban the play would be taking liability for putting quarterbacks at risk. He criticized NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Vincent for advocating the ban, adding that he had spoken to NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills at length about the play.
Eagles assistant general manager John Ferrari and former Eagles star center Jason Kelce, currently an ESPN analyst, addressed the room next. Kelce said that he would return to the NFL if he could run 60 tush pushes a game.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones asked a few questions, while Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula — a critic of the tush push — said his team was good at the play and still supported banning it.
An hour had passed when San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York asked Lurie “how much more s—” he needed to say.
There were a few scattered laughs, but the room was quiet and tense. Goodell then adjourned to the “privileged session,” which is attended by owners and top league executives. The ban failed by a vote of 22-10, falling two votes shy of the 24 needed to ban it.
Multiple league sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that Eagles officials walked out of the room “not knowing what to expect” and figured voting could go either way.
The Eagles set out Wednesday to address the notion that the tush push led to injury, with one source telling Fowler that “there was no data” to suggest the play was unsafe.
One of Kelce’s talking points was to dispel the rumor that he retired because of the tush push, sources told Fowler. Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II said Kelce’s perspective was that the tush push “is a safe play, not something we need to worry about that much.”
Rooney also said Kelce may have swayed teams that were undecided on their vote, adding that more teams could embrace the tush push during their offseason practices, now that the play is not going away.
Perspectives on Kelce’s impact on the voting varied, however, as one source told ESPN’s Brooke Pryor that the former Eagles center’s speech was “generic.” Other sources described a “spirited” conversation sparked by Kelce.
When Jones pointed out potential issues with the play, Kelce said he understood where the Cowboys owner was coming from and agreed on some of the points. Multiple sources noted to Pryor that it was refreshing to hear about a rule and its impact from a player’s perspective, and it could lead to more players weighing in on significant potential rule changes.
“Any play that’s out of the ordinary gets extra scrutiny because of the competition,” Jones told Fowler. “That’s the fun part of having these meetings, and here we are — the world champion is the main focus of the tush push, and here we are debating it and having to decide, ‘Am I really against the tush push or do I just want Philadelphia to [not] have an edge?’ And I sit there and fight that, too.”
Jones acknowledged to Fowler that he tends to “flip-flop” on the issue but added that after watching film with Kelce, he admits that the Eagles’ “offensive line prowess is impressive.”
