Tush push debate rages at NFL's annual meeting
The hotly-debated tush push was the topic du jor among NFL coaches at the annual league meeting on Monday as new reports surfaced over the effort to ban the play from use.
The Green Bay Packers submitted a proposal that would effectively ban the play, which became famous thanks to the Philadelphia Eagles and their success with it.
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The Packers' official rule change proposal would "prohibit an offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap." The proposal added that a penalty would be assessed on any offensive player who violates the rule.
League staff presented the rule proposals during a football operations meeting on Sunday, and the issue of the Packers’ proposal sparked a "heated" discussion, ESPN reported. Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur both declined to talk about it with ESPN.
However, it did not stop other coaches from discussing it when the meeting got into full gear on Monday.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said he was "open-minded" about getting rid of the tush push.
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"The first time I saw it, I couldn’t believe that it was legal because it was illegal on the field goal," he said, via The Athletic. "That being said, you hate to be against it, because when people are innovative, you want to respect that.
"There’s certainly been some teams that have been more innovative than the rest of us … We hate to penalize them for it. But we got into the discussion on the field goal block because of player safety and so that still remains to be a component of the discussion."
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott also mentioned the notion of safety when it came to the possibility of banning the play, according to Pro Football Talk.
A source disputed the safety aspect in an interview with ESPN.
"It's not about player safety. It's just a different play and it just looks different," the source said.
The furor around the tush push escalated during the Eagles’ NFC Championship win over the Washington Commanders.
Commanders players attempted to jump offsides to try to stop the play from the goal line. However, the constant offsides penalties resulted in a warning from NFL officials, who said the Eagles could have been awarded a score if Washington kept committing the penalty.
ESPN reported that the push-sneak play was only used less than 0.28% of the time.
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