The NFL decided to table a vote that would outlaw the tush push until May during the owners’ meetings on Tuesday.
Players and coaches alike have weighed in on the play, from health concerns to the competitive advantage it has given the Philadelphia Eagles because of their unparalleled success with it.
Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce has a reminder for those who want the play banned due to health and safety concerns.
“Like I understand the whole if you want to say it’s not safe, football isn’t a safe game to play. So I know we’re trying to make it safer or whatever, like it is what it is,” Kelce said during a recent episode of “New Heights.”
“I think it’s a football type of play, it’s a toughness play that you need to be in sync with the guys next to you and the guys around you and that’s on both sides of the ball. I don’t think we need to be banning this.”
Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, who ran the tush push with Jalen Hurts and Co., does not believe the play leads to an increase in injury.
JASON AND KYLIE KELCE INTRODUCE TRAVIS TO NIECE IN HEARTWARMING MOMENT
“For me personally, I never felt like there’s that much more of a risk of injuring somebody on the play and I don’t think there’s any statistics to back that up. So anybody saying that it’s going to lead to more injuries is pure conjecture, not rooted in fact. I think the only argument I see for potentially banning it is, is there a competitive advantage?” Jason said.
“Like the play sucks to run. But it sucks because of like an exertion, like an energy level, it takes so much to try and get a yard. It’s not a high-impact collision. There’s not, for the most part, people don’t even get rolled up on because you’re keeping your feet moving. It’s not going to be a play, in my opinion, where you’re going to see this huge increase in chance of risk of injury. I don’t think it’s really that dangerous from a health perspective.”
Jason said that if the play does get banned, he expects the Eagles to still have a lot of success running a traditional quarterback sneak.
Travis questioned what other traditional football plays could be banned next if the tush push is deemed illegal.
“How far down the line does it go> Are players on the defense not allowed to hold guys up now to try and have somebody come in and get a strip? At what point are we just going to let football be football?” Travis said.
In May, the owners will reconvene and determine the fate of the tush push, and whether football will be football.
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