The Green Bay Packers appear to the be the organization that submitted the proposal to the NFL suggesting the “tush push” play be banned, per ESPN’s Dianna Russini. The divisive run play commonly used by the Philadelphia Eagles with an unprecedented success rate has drawn ire from fans, players, and executives. Over the past several seasons, talk of the play being banned has been ongoing, but it now appears that the Packers are taking some extra steps to move towards a ban.
The Green Bay Packers Have Submitted a Proposal to Ban the Tush Push
Early on Monday, February 24th, an unnamed team submitted a proposal to the NFL on the topic of banning the tush push. As the news broke across the league, the team remained unnamed until several hours after, where it was reported that the Green Bay Packers were the secret team in question.
The Green Bay Packers are the team that submitted a proposal to the NFL’s competition committee to ban the tush push, per sources.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) February 24, 2025
The Packers are one of the teams the Philadelphia Eagles defeated en route to their Super Bowl title in the 2024-25 season, and were beaten 22-10 in January’s Wild Card Round.
This is not the first time the Packers have been at the center of anti-tush push noise. Earlier this month, Packers president Mark Murphy made headlines with a quote slandering the play.
“I am not a fan of this play. There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less… …There used to be a rule prohibiting this, but it is no longer enforced because I believe it was thought to be too hard for the officials to see. The play is bad for the game, and we should go back to prohibiting the push of the runner. This would bring back the traditional QB sneak. That worked pretty well for Bart Starr and the Packers in the Ice Bowl.”
The Tush Push Continues to Spark Controversy
It now appears that this statement was a precursor to taking formal action against the play. The tush push has always been a divisive and controversial topic, as other teams have been unable to find ways to stop the Eagles from converting it at an over 90% rate, while simultaneously failing to execute the play with their own offenses at a comparable percentage. While some teams have found success with it, namely the Buffalo Bills, many other teams have shown the inability to perform it.
The tush push vaulted back into the national news when the Washington Commanders tried without success to stop it in the NFC Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs, committing multiple pre-snap penalties in their efforts before being warned by referees that the Eagles would be awarded a score if they did not stop committing fouls. Many fans reacted negatively to this scenario. Murphy made specific note of the occurrence in his statement from early February.
“The series of plays with the Commanders jumping offsides in the NFC Championship Game to try to stop the play was ridiculous. The referee even threatened to give the Eagles an automatic touchdown if the Commanders did not stop it. I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the runner (QB) on this play.”
It appears that much of this negative sentiment exists within front offices across the league, but Green Bay has been the one to step forward with an attempt to end the tush push for good.
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