Tush Push Ban Proposal Reportedly Rejected As NFL Owners Vote Against Rule Change

The Philadelphia Eagles can breathe easy. Their go-to short-yardage play is officially here to stay.

According to The Athletic's Dianna Russini, NFL owners voted Wednesday to reject the proposal to ban the tush push, a play made famous by the Eagles that features players shoving the quarterback from behind to generate forward momentum.

The Green Bay Packers submitted the proposal to ban the play earlier this year before the NFL annual meetings. The vote was tabled on April 1 with plans to address it again this month after 16 of 32 teams voted in favor of banning the play.

On Wednesday, 22 teams voted to approve the proposal, once again falling short of the 24 votes necessary for it to go into effect.

The Eagles reacted to the vote on social media, seemingly trolling the Packers' proposal:

The proposal sought to "prohibit an offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap," per ESPN's Kalyn Kahler. Kahler noted at the time that the proposal had "support within the competition committee."

While the owners did not approve the ban in a vote earlier in the day, Mark Maske of the Washington Post reported the play could still be a topic of discussion at a meeting on Wednesday afternoon:

Earlier this week, the Packers revised the language of the proposal to say, "Offensive players cannot assist the runner except by individually blocking opponents for him," according to ESPN's Brooke Pryor. The phrase "immediately at the snap" was also removed from the updated language. Still, it ultimately wasn't enough to get the proposal passed.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni had long pushed back on the notion that the tush push is a dangerous play that leads to injuries, saying in February that those concerns are "a little made up. … I can't remember one injury we had on that play, and we ran it more than anybody else."

Now, Sirianni can officially keep the tush push in his offensive playbook, and star quarterback Jalen Hurts will continue to have assistance in short-yardage situations during the upcoming season.

Philadelphia relied on the play when it needed a quick first down or a short-yardage touchdown. It helped the Eagles en route to their victory over the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. Hurts scored the first touchdown of the game with a tush push.

Despite Philadelphia's incredible success with the play, most teams have been unable to replicate it. According to Kahler, the tush push accounted for only 0.28 percent of all plays during the season, with the Eagles and the Buffalo Bills as the only two teams to run it more than five times.

Unfortunately for the Packers and the other teams who struggled to defend the tush push, the play isn't going anywhere in 2025.