The Tush Push debate: to ban or not to ban, that is the question

Ah, the Tush Push - the NFL’s hottest debate right now. If you’re somehow not familiar, the Tush Push or as it’s sometimes called, The Brotherly Shove, the rugby sneak, or the “Organized Mass”, as the Kelce brothers call it, is a play in which the ball runner is pushed from behind in order to get the necessary yardage. It’s similar to a rugby scrum and it was introduced last season by the Philadelphia Eagles, who have since mastered it, leaving many others in the league and outside it, completely enraged.

The argument against the Tush Push

As much as I despise the Eagles and want to root for their failure, I have to give credit where it’s due. When Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said that no one can do the Tush Push like they can, he was not wrong. And those who are looking to ban it are simply upset that their team can’t do it themselves. The Eagles used the Tush Push 41 times last season, and were successful in 37 of those attempts.

The arguments against the Tush Push are pretty weak: it’s dangerous and it’s boring. Let’s address the first argument. It’s true that two Giants players were injured trying to pull it off. But that’s just a testament to the fact that they don’t know how to do it well. But here’s the other thing: every play in Football is dangerous and risky. You practice it, you perfect it, and you do your best to protect and stay protected. That’s just Football in a nutshell. Even still, Jason Kelce, the Eagles center who usually ends up at the bottom of the pile, has admitted he’s not the biggest fan of the move himself. But again - being buried comes with risk just as blocking the quarterback in the scrum may pose an injury risk, just as any other Football play or tackle comes with a risk. It’s the nature of the Game. Of course, if it proves to be causing more injuries compared to other plays when there is more data at the end of the season, the league may well consider a ban. Until then, it seems to be no more risky than any other part of the Game.

When it started to become a signature move for the Eagles last season, the league sent out a memo to every team about the “assisting the runner” penalty, which basically just confirmed that the play was legal. The rule states that the runner cannot be pulled, but it does not state that he cannot be pushed. So, it was a fair play then and it’s a fair play now. Not only is it fair, but it is clever. What it isn’t anymore is unpredictable. And that brings us to argument number two - it’s “lame”.

Because the Eagles have been so successful with this play, they continue using it, more often than not picking up the extra yard at 4th and 1 without much difficulty. At the moment, when a team (not named the Eagles) decides to go for it on 4th down, there is a lot of anxiety and excitement - will they convert? Was it worth the risk? Will we be cursing the play caller after this or not? But when the Eagles do it, and in theory any other team who may perfect it in the future, well then, where’s the fun in that? Unfortunately for the critics though, plays don’t typically get banned solely because they are less entertaining.

How about, to make it more entertaining, we allow the defenses to figure out a way to stop the Eagles from (almost) always succeeding at the Tush Push? Allow the offenses of the other teams to try and pull it off the same way the Eagles can. The only reason the Eagles have the advantage on the Tush Push is because of the talent surrounding them, and that’s an advantage - not an unfair advantage. (It wasn’t enough to win them the Super Bowl, after all…sorry, couldn’t help myself.) All 32 NFL teams have the opportunity to get better at the Tush Push and I think the NFL should let them do so. At the very least so I have an excuse to keep writing “Tush Push”.