NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Troy shares update on league's stance on 'tush push' play

Despite what you might have heard, the Eagles tush push isn’t dying after this season. It’s still too soon to kill it off.

As the NFL owners meeting ended Wednesday evening in Dallas, commissioner Roger Goodell addressed a number of topics, including the tush push, otherwise known as a more emphatic quarterback sneak in pro football.

With the Eagles continuing to use the play to great effect, there have been whispers that Goodell wants it gone. But the commissioner says he just wants a conversation, maybe a vote, at the league’s spring meetings. “I’m sure we’ll have a decision by March,” Goodell said at his press conference.

Officially, Goodell says “I haven’t taken a position on that one.

“Last year, the (rules) committee had a lot of different views on that. I want to hear that again this year, I want to hear how people feel about it. I think we want to look at, ‘Is there enough data to talk about the safety of it?’”

At the spring meetings earlier this year, the tush push was on the agenda, but there never was a vote.

For some backgound, the NFL has allowed a tush push kind of play since 2005. That’s when the league tweaked a rule to allow offensive players to push each other. But the play didn’t take off until 2022 when the Eagles stuck it in their Sunday game plans. With Jalen Hurts taking the snap, the Eagles run the play to perfection. But Hurts isn’t like other NFL quarterbacks. He can squat 600 pounds. So when he gets the snap, he keeps his legs churning to help push the pile. But with the tush push, he also has two players, usually running backs, behind him, helping with the first down/touchdown-friendly shove. Philadelphia center Jason Kelce also fires off and burrows in, creating a hole for Hurts. That makes him one of the keys to the play.

The Eagles aren’t the only team running the play. The Bills, with quarterback Josh Allen, like it on short yardage. The Packers also put it in for quarterback Jordan Love.

The tush push, Buffalo’s Version. #BillsMafia

(Via NFL)pic.twitter.com/1VjtfjhU9z

— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) December 10, 2023

Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive VP for communications, indicated at the owners meeting that the league has studied whether the tush push causes more injuries. Miller said “noting notable” could be gleaned from the injury stats.

Goodell says he wants all of it studied.

“Are there other aspects of it that we need to think about?” Goodell told reporters. “A lot of coaches talked last year about (how) innovation would come off of that play. I’d like to take a look back at that; has that really occurred? It’s important to hear the different perspectives and let the committee do their work. I’ll be able to participate in that. And I’m sure we’ll have a position by (the owners’ meetings) March.”

Troy Vincent, the league’s VP for football operations, said he wants to make sure that the objections about the tush push aren’t related to competitive jealousy.

“Philly does it better than everyone else. That’s a fact,” Vincent said at his press availability. “You won’t want to punish anyone for doing something well. People have tried different things to stop it, have not had success.”