Tush push ban vote tabled by NFL owners for more discussion - ESPN

PALM BEACH, Fla. — NFL owners plan to continue discussions about the Philadelphia Eagles' short-yardage tush push play after tabling a proposal Tuesday to ban it, league officials said.

The Green Bay Packers authored the proposal, which earned the support of 16 NFL teams, two sources told ESPN's Kalyn Kahler. NFL bylaws require a minimum of 24 votes to approve a change. The topic is likely to be revisited when owners gather for their spring meeting May 20-21 in Eagan, Minnesota.

The deliberations occupied owners, general managers and coaches for much of this week's annual league meeting, mostly because it seemed to target the Super Bowl LII champions for a legal play that has been largely unstoppable over the past three seasons. The Packers' proposal was written specifically for the play, unlike most rule proposals, by prohibiting an offensive player from immediately pushing a teammate who is lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap.

While there were some subjective concerns about the safety risk of the tush push, the NFL's health and safety department had no data that suggested a single injury had occurred as a result of the Eagles or any other team using it. The Buffalo Bills were the only other team that used it regularly last season, and they combined with the Eagles to call 65 of the 101 tush push runs in 2024.

But committee chairman Rich McKay said last week, and reiterated Tuesday, that the league generally frowns on rule changes that target only one or two teams. The NFL prohibited players to push ball carriers for much of its history before changing its rules to allow it in 2005, citing the difficulty of officiating it. During Tuesday's meeting, McKay said, the Packers offered to change the