The vote to ban the "Tush Push" was held, and it didn't pass.
On Tuesday, as the NFL owners were meeting in Minnesota to reach a ruling on the play (along with a list of other topics like 2028 flag football Olympic participation), Eagles players and head coach Nick Sirianni met with the media at the NovaCare Complex and mostly shrugged off the looming decision. They were prepared to deal with whatever the call was.
Then word broke Wednesday that the "Tush Push" would remain, and it got petty.
Within minutes, the Eagles' social media team had posts up of a photo of Jalen Hurts and the Birds lining up for their signature play against the Green Bay Packers, the team that put the "Tush Push" ban proposal on the table. The tag line on it: "Push On."
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 21, 2025
But they weren't done.
A 26-minute "Tush Push" highlight reel was uploaded to YouTube that you can watch HERE (because the NFL's nonsense digital media policy won't let you do it here if it's embedded like so below):
Then, they put it on a T-shirt:
The Push On shirt you've been waiting for 😏
Buy Now: https://t.co/0OtgaAXflP pic.twitter.com/ray2T7g1Sz— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 21, 2025
On the ground in Minnesota, Jason Kelce actually flew in to dispel the narrative that was spreading around amongst league owners that the "Tush Push" led to his retirement, and reports were that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie gave a pretty impassioned speech in defense of the play before the vote was held.
Soon after, the list of teams that voted against the ban became public, which thus gave everyone the 22 teams that were for it. The ban needed 24 votes to pass.
NFL needed 24 votes today to ban the Tush Push, but got only 22. Here are the 10 teams that voted against the Tush Push ban, per sources:
🏈Eagles
🏈Ravens
🏈Browns
🏈Lions
🏈Jaguars
🏈Dolphins
🏈Patriots
🏈Saints
🏈Jets
🏈Titans— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 21, 2025
The Eagles players and coaches, directly, will likely stay professional about it, but you can sense where it got personal.
It shows in different ways.
Ohhhh you tried banning the Tush Push? It didn't pass?
Sounds like it's time for bulking season…JURGY TIME. pic.twitter.com/cfcyAkEDrp— Jurgy (@jurgyco) May 22, 2025
A couple of other odds and ends on the Birds and the "Tush Push" vote fallout…
Was it really about the play?
A lot of arguments were thrown up against the "Tush Push" in the effort to try and ban it throughout the past few months. 'It's a rugby play, not a football play,' 'There's no skill involved' as Packers president Mark Murphy wanted to plea, 'it's a safety concern,' 'it disrupts the pace of play,' and the list went on, but with each point carrying all kinds of questionable degrees of validity.
Then, after the ban vote failed, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who voted for the ban, spoke to the media about it, and give him some credit, he was honest about the reality from Dallas' perspective:
"Here we are debating it, having to decide, well, am I really against the 'Tush Push' or just don't want Philadelphia to have an edge?" Jones said, via Yahoo's Jori Epstein. "I sit there and fight that, too."
He joked that he 'flip flops' on what the root of his opinion really is, but considering that the Eagles are the only team that can run it successfully consistently, the likelihood is other owners were grappling with that, too.
Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones said that in tush push debate, he had to ask himself whether he’s really against the play or he just wants to stop the Eagles.
Which did he land on?
“I don’t know,” Jerry laughed. “I flip flop.” pic.twitter.com/9lQkcjBQus— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) May 21, 2025
Somewhat related, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' social media wanted to brag about being able to stop the "Tush Push."
How to stop the Tush Push ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/9Yg7fJrGug
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) May 21, 2025
And that might've had some punch to it…If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hadn't been one of the teams that voted to ban the "Tush Push."
Has there ever been another play that has made the entire league short-circuit like this?
MORE: The Eagles' strengths, and weaknesses, on offense
The best ever?
Reed Blankenship and Cooper DeJean have a podcast now, Exciting Mics, and had teammate Saquon Barkley on as their first guest.
And on the episode uploaded earlier this week, the star running back made a point about their Super Bowl-winning group that's been somewhat discussed but maybe not fully realized yet.
Said Barkley:
"I firmly believe, when you look at our team that we had last year, I think we're a top-five team of all time. I tell my boys this all the time.
"Like, if you really look at the season outside of the first four games, it was belt to a**.
"How dominant you guys were on defense, and how dominant we were on offense and special teams, people don't realize how great of a team that actually was." [Exciting Mics]
Saquon Barkley on the 2024 Eagles
“I firmly believe when you look at our team that we had last year…I think we're a top-five team of all time.” pic.twitter.com/AW5vc7UMI8— Exciting Mics (@excitingmics) May 22, 2025
Were they perfect? No. But from that early October bye in Week 5 onward, the Eagles either found a way by or outright crushed their opponents, which even extended to Week 18 when they had their second- and third-stringers in against the Giants' starters.
The only game they lost in between was against Washington when Hurts got hurt quickly into it, but other than that, they rolled through everyone.
Barkley was chasing after the single-season rushing record, DeJean was spiking titans into the ground as a rookie, and at the end of the line, the Eagles dropped 95 points on the Commanders and the dynasty Chiefs across the NFC Championship and the Super Bowl.
It's hard to have been more dominant than that.
Anyway, here's "The Dagger" again:
a HOME COOKED 6-for-6 special 🧑🍳@DeVontaSmith_6 | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/Bp5EVx3Q8l
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) February 10, 2025
MORE: Nick Sirianni has security now, but he and the Eagles aren't satisfied
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