The 'tush push' lives on as controversial play survives vote at NFL owner's meeting

The tush push lives to fight another down.

Despite rising controversy surrounding the quarterback-pushing sneak, NFL owners stopped short of outlawing the tactic during Wednesday’s meetings. A proposal from the Green Bay Packers aimed at scrapping the play—famously weaponized by the Philadelphia Eagles en route to their Super Bowl run—fell short of approval.

Sources close to the discussions say the vote came up two shy of the 24 required for passage. The final vote was tallied at 22-10 so for now, the league's most polarizing short-yardage play isn't going anywhere.

The Green Bay Packers first pitched the rule change earlier this year, aiming to outlaw the now-infamous act of teammates pushing the quarterback forward after the snap. That version was put on ice back in April, but the Packers came back this week with a stronger, more expansive proposal.

This revamped motion would’ve made it illegal for any offensive player to push, pull, or even hoist the ball carrier at any point during a play. As NFL.com pointed out, it echoed the league's old-school stance before such assistance was quietly normalized.

Those backing the ban leaned heavily on "player safety" and "pace of play" as the main arguments. But here's the thing—no one's shown solid evidence that the play actually leads to injuries.

What truly raised eyebrows was the way the proposal tried to bulldoze its way through under shaky reasoning. Much like a Philadelphia Eagles quarterback muscling forward behind a wall of bodies, the effort to outlaw the tush push felt more like an agenda-driven drive than a genuine safety concern.

Filed just days before the vote, the Packers' new proposal sought to slap offenses with a 10-yard penalty for any instance of pushing or pulling a runner. But let's call it what it is—using injury fears to scrap a tactic just because it's hard to stop? That's a bit rich.

Expectedly, the Philadelphia Eagles were among the first to announce the news with a two-word post to X: "Push On."

The 2025 NFL regular season is set to kick off on Thursday, Sept. 4., with defending champions the Philadelphia Eagles kicking off the new campaign against divisional rivals Dallas Cowboys.