The Eagles changed the NFL. And then the NFL tried to change the Eagles.
But they failed.
BREAKING: The Packers' proposal to ban the tush push did not receive the required 75% support from the NFL's owners to pass, per source.
The tush push remains alive. pic.twitter.com/CVEhTjUuAO— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) May 21, 2025
The NFL Spring Meetings could not rally enough support from NFL owners – they needed 24 to ban the play – to get rid of the Eagles' patented short-yardage play.
ESPN's Adam Schefter said at least nine, maybe 10 teams voted no on the measure.
Though the Eagles' unique quarterback sneak — one that made short-yardage situations nearly automatic — was not the biggest factor in their Super Bowl win or recent run of dominance it certainly helped them elevate their offense to keep Saquon Barkley and company on the field. They gave themselves an extra down.
The Packers, who were crushed by the Eagles in the postseason, submitted a proposal a few weeks ago at the Owner's Meetings to eliminate a play that was a rugby style maneuver, with a player pushing another player for positive yardage. It was tabled and rewritten for a vote this week. The proposal stated that "offensive players cannot assist the runner except by individually blocking opponents for him."
Jason Kelce flew to the meetings to explain the play to the owners himself. The Eagles knew a potential ban was in the pipeline.
"I don't ever remember a play being banned because a single team or a few teams were running it effectively," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in April. "It's part of what I think most of us love about football is it's a chess match. Let the chess match play out. And if for any reason it does get banned, we'll try to be the very best at short-yardage situations. We've got a lot of ideas there."
The idea of eliminating the play seems objectively unfair. Teams had trouble stopping it and replicating it. Philly succeeded 87% of the time (according to ESPN), with the rest of the NFL converting at a 71% success rate. There was no evidence to support claims that the play was dangerous or created injuries.
At least for next season, the Eagles' league-best offensive line and 600-pound squatting quarterback will continue to cheat Barkley's fantasy owners out of touchdowns. And Eagles fans are fine more than with that.
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