Roger Goodell Says Tush Push Ban Has Not Been Discussed by NFL During 2025 Season

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell indicated Wednesday that the NFL does not plan to reconsider banning the tush push until after the 2025 season.

"It's not something we're focused on in the season. We'll monitor it," Goodell said about the play, per CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones.

A proposal to ban the tush push ahead of the 2025 season received support from 22 teams but failed by two votes this summer, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The Philadelphia Eagles, by far the NFL's most frequent user of the play, were one of the ten teams Schefter reported opposed the rule change. Of the nine remaining teams, only the Detroit Lions had the Eagles on their 2025 schedule.

The tush push has since come under scrutiny after a series of high-profile missed calls on the Eagles, including a false start in Week 2 that the Washington Post's Mark Maske reported led to the NFL sending a leaguewide memo telling officials to call the play "tight."

Issues with missed flags on the play have persisted since then, including during what appeared to be another missed start call on the second of four consecutive tush pushes on an Eagles touchdown drive against the New York Giants in Week 6.

NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent admitted when speaking to reporters ahead of Week 8 that the tush push has been difficult for line judges to officiate.

"What has been said by officials the last two years, when we've discussed the push play, very difficult to officiate in real time... It is really hard for that line judge to identify that, based on where he's at, looking down the line of scrimmage," Vincent said.

Vincent added that NFL officials are "going to try to get better at identifying when someone's in the neutral zone or when someone leaves a little early."

The last proposal to ban the tush push was submitted by former Green Bay Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy, who has since retired from his position, per Schefter. The teams who wanted to ban the play would need to find a new champion for the next proposal, as well as two additional votes in favor, in order to resume their campaign for the rule change next offseason.

Whether the NFL is able to follow through on Vincent's promised officiating improvements could impact how much support a new proposal to ban the tush push would receive next spring.