The "Tush Push" ban proposal on the table this week was one of the leading issues at the NFL owners meetings.
Nick Sirianni, Howie Roseman, and Jeffrey Lurie all stood in defense of the Eagles' signature play, and a few other coaches and GMs from around the league stated their support of it as well.
But the teams that want it gone have been steadfast about it, citing injury risk and "aesthetics," though without ever offering much evidence or data to support their case.
Ultimately, the topic of a "Tush Push" ban got tabled until the next league meetings in May, word broke on Tuesday. Essentially, the teams for the ban put the vote on hold so they could get to a scenario where they have a better chance of getting what they want, as our own Jimmy Kempski observed, because they didn't have the votes or the data to back them up now.
But having data might not even matter.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had his owners meetings press conference on Tuesday, and on the subject of the "Tush Push," he said that he does believe there are injury concerns, that there's little data to support that idea, but the issue is "beyond data."
Said Goodell in full, via former 6ABC anchor Jeff Skversky:
"Listen, the discussion on the 'Tush Push' was very good. We shared a lot of data, a lot of questions from the clubs, a lot of discussion about it. I think there are safety issues that are being considered in that case. We have very little data from it, but it's not – it's beyond data. There's the mechanism of injury that we study, that type of thing, that leads us to show the risk involved with a particular play or a particular tackle.
"So those are things that we did discuss. I do think there's a lot of discussion about going back to the previous rule, back to pre-2004 [when players couldn't push or pull at all], with some dispute about how long that rule was in play. But the reality of it is I think that makes a lot of sense in many ways, because it expands it beyond just that single play. There are a lot of plays where you see someone pulling or pushing somebody that are not in the 'Tush Push' formation, that I think do have an increased risk of injury. So I think the committee will look at that and come back in May with some proposals."
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on potentially banning the Eagles Tush Push:
"I think there are safety issues that are being considered. We have very little data from it, but it's beyond data… There' a lot of discussion about going back to the previous rule. I think that makes… pic.twitter.com/cNpgVp51rF— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) April 1, 2025
So basically, the sections of the league that want the play out of the game are going to stretch over the next few weeks to do so, whether they have actual proof of injury risk or not.
MORE: Eight takeaways from Jeffrey Lurie's 'State of the Eagles' address
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