The Packers have officially renewed their assault on the tush push.
The move addresses the root cause of the tush push.
By making a general attack on all pushing of the runner, it no longer seems to be a direct assault on the Eagles’ signature play.
The league reportedly was split, 16-16, on the Packers’ flawed proposal that prohibited immediate pushing of the player who receives the snap.
But, hey, the powers-that-be (possibly starting with the guys whose autograph is on every football) don’t like the tush push.
The Packers’ attack on the tush push has been formally renewed.
The Packers’ updated proposal, which goes back to 2005, when pushing and pulling the ball carrier was illegal, was submitted ahead of Tuesday’s ownership meeting.
The tush push’s underlying cause is addressed by the move. The Eagles took advantage of this flaw and incorporated pushing into their playbook about 16 years after the league permitted it, in part because officials never raised an alarm when it occurred.
By attacking the runner’s pushing in general, it no longer appears to be a direct attack on the Eagles’ signature play. despite the fact that everyone with a working brain is aware of what is occurring.
24 votes are needed to approve the bill. According to reports, the league was divided 16–16 over the Packers’ faulty proposal that forbade the player who gets the snap from being pushed right away. Confusion and inconsistent practices among crews would have resulted from that, and there would have been a new way to argue that the fix is in if/when a subjective determination that a push was “immediate” converts a crucial touchdown or first down into a 10-yard penalty.
The pace of play and player safety are cited as the rationale for the proposal. Unless a defense pinned against its goal line chooses to keep jumping offside in the hopes of precisely timing the move to stop the play, there is no evidence to support the idea that pushing the runner will result in a safety concern, and no one has ever proposed that the tush push affects the “pace of play.”.
What will occur if this passes is as follows. First, officials will resume not calling a foul for helping the runner, even though there might be an early attempt to police downfield pushing in the early 2025 season at the direction of 345 Park Avenue. (The most recent instance occurred during the 1991 playoffs, when Tim Grunhard was the target of a flag thrown during a Chiefs vs. Bills game. Second, even without the tush pushing, the Eagles will still run a quarterback sneak that is virtually invincible.
The tush push, however, is disliked by the people in charge, perhaps beginning with the men whose names appear on every football. I don’t think it’s football. Regardless of all the evidence to the contrary, it is a safety risk. Thus, it will disappear.
An awful precedent will be set. When someone doesn’t like a play, the league is making up excuses to ban it.
It also begs the question, “What’s next?”.
For all teams, the lesson is straightforward. Continue to be creative. However, exercise caution. They’ll find a way to prevent you from doing it if you create something so exceptional that it is impossible to replicate.
