The Green Bay Packers did the NFL world a favor by proposing a “tush push” ban for next season. While the Super Bowl champion Eagles took full advantage of the play behind a dominant offensive line and athletic QB Jalen Hurts, plenty of teams, players and fans want the rugby-esque maneuver out of the game. When the proposal finally went to a vote, 16 franchises–exactly half, 8 shy of the necessary quota for ratification–supported a ban.
Because outlawing the play would specifically target the Eagles, the rules committee is lukewarm on the suggestion’s current framework. To accommodate misgivings, the Packers broadened their proposal to include a rule change that would affect all 32 teams in addition to banning the tush push.
Green Bay Packers’ Proposed Tush Push Ban Met with Hardy Support
Now that the first vote has taken place, owners will likely revisit the proposal during their spring meeting, May 20-21, ESPN reports. As it is, 16 yeas to 16 nays is an encouraging sign for the anti-tush push crowd, following up reports that the proposal was gaining traction around the league.
Changing any type of rule, of course, in sports or in government, tends to be a lengthy and resistant process. Regardless of whether current guidelines are fair, decision makers simply seem to fear–sometimes understandably–that altering the status quo will produce a worse outcome that will then require further bureaucratic revision. By the same taken, unfair rules may benefit certain shareholders. No one would expect the Eagles to vote against a play that helped them win a Super Bowl.
There is also the question of whether some teams, such as AFC members or those in rebuilding mode, groups for whom the Eagles’ exploits are less immediately relevant, even care enough to rock the boat.
At the very least, then, the fact that half of all owners voted against tush pushing in the first-ever tally is promising. To nudge the proposal over the waves of opposition, however, the Packers are willing to go a step further. To allay qualms over enacting a “discriminatory” policy, Green Bay has suggested reinstating the pre-2005 rule that forbid the forward pushing of any ball carrier, on any play–not just the tush push, elevated by the proper concoction of ingredients to a QB sneak on steroids.
Although the above wording might seem unjust exaggeration, exploitation need not be against current rules to warrant change for the sake of fundamental integrity–see MLB’s infield shift restrictions or the NBA’s adjusted rules for foul-baiting. The Packers’ revised proposal aligns more closely with such league-wide changes that could also be seen as going after individual entities more than the league in general (for example, NBA players like James Harden, notorious foul grifter.)
Rules Committee Not a Fan of Changing Rules to Target Specific Teams
Committee chair Rich McKay oversaw the proceedings. “A lot of teams had a lot of views,” he said. “I think No. 1, I’m going to go back to what I said the other day, which is you’d never like any discussion in any room to be projected towards a team or two. It’s never something we’ve ever liked doing.”
What did the Packers do to address this?
“So, I think the idea [Tuesday] was, as opposed to voting on this particular proposal today, Green Bay asked, ‘Could we go back and talk about reintroducing the 2004 language, study it, understand it and talk about it again when we get to May.'”
Reporting on owners’ deliberations, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert notes that a more generic rule, covering a broad suite of play types, mitigates the degree to which a ban would be seen as explicitly targeting the Eagles.
With the draft upcoming later this month, coverage on the talks may lull as teams and media shift their focus to the biggest event of the NFL offseason after the initial free agent frenzy. It will be interesting to see whether a broader rule change will garner the extra eight votes needed to eliminate perhaps the most boring play in football outside of extra points and kneel-downs.
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