PHILADELPHIA – President Trump is sounding off on the Philadelphia Eagles use of the tush push.
The POTUS spoke out in favor of the play as the Super Bowl LIX winners visited the White House Monday.
The backstory:
Packers officials submitted their proposal to ban offensive players from being able to push their teammates who are lined up behind the center forward.
The Packers, who have not beaten the Eagles in a game since 2020 and lost to them this past season, cited player safety and pace of play as reasons for banning the tush push.
NFL executive Troy Vincent said last month there have been zero injuries reported as a result of the play.
Any rule change must be approved by 24 out of 32 team owners.
Related
There will be no vote Tuesday on the latest attempt to ban the “Tush Push’ play made famous by the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles, according to reports.
NFL owners, coaches, and general managers gathered at a resort in Palm Beach, Florida, to discuss a number of rule changes.
However, the Green Bay Packers’ proposal to eliminate the play that’s become a staple winner for the Eagles has become the most controversial.
Several NFL insiders reported that NFL owners decided to table to tush-push discussion until a later date.
“No decision about its future at this league meeting,” ESPN insider Adam Schefter said on X.
In a press conference Tuesday, Competition Committee Co-Chairman Rich McKay explained why the tush-push vote was tabled this time around.
“We never like any discussion to be projected towards a team or two,” McKay said. “In this case, the discussion became No. 1 safety, No. 2 should we have to defend it, and No. 3 is this part of the history of football?”
He said the committee may look at and study former “push and pull” policies before discussing the controversial play for a future vote.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie held a press conference and addressed a few topics, including he tush push.
“I think for everybody, including myself, I think the health and safety is the most important thing when evaluating any play,” Lurie stated about the tush push. “We’ve been very open to whatever data exists on the tush push. There’s just been no data that shows that it isn’t a very, very safe play. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t be pushing the tush push.”
He continued, “There’s other ways of gaining that half yard, that yard. There’s quarterback sneaks, but we’ve been very good at it. It’s a play that’s available to every other team in the league and I think it hasn’t been used more than five times by almost every team in the league.”
In an answer to a question regarding the aesthetics of the tush push, Lurie replied, “I remember reading about the forward pass and they said it really was an odd play that is no part of American football. So, it was controversial when the forward pass came out. It’s, you know, I think aestheticism is very subjective. I’ve never judged whether a play looks okay. Does a screen pass look better than an in route or out route? I don’t know. To me, it’s not a very relevant critique that it doesn’t look right. What looks right? Scoring. We like to win and score.”
What they’re saying:
After dropping Taylor Swift’s name during his speech Monday, President Trump co-signed keeping the tush push amid discussions over banning it.
“The Eagles scored a touchdown on their signature play. The tush push. You know what that is,” said Trump. “I hope they keep that play…they’re talking about getting rid of that play I understand they should keep it.”
He went on to call the play ‘exciting and different.’
Related
The Philadelphia Eagles visited President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday to celebrate their Super Bowl LIX victory.
“I would like to see something done. I’d like to go back to the regular kickoff. However, we don’t like that kickoff where nobody’s moving. The ball is in the air and nobody’s moving. But I want to ask the coach here and Lane or any other people about that. But as a fan, I don’t know. I’m not sure. Jeffrey or some of the people, they call it the brotherly shove,” said Trump.
Head Coach Nick Sirianni followed up by thanking President Trump for the tush push nod.
“Thank you, Mr. President, for having us here. And we also appreciate the, endorsement for the tush push. We really appreciate that. And go birds,” said Sirianni.
The Source: The information in this story is from various press conferences held by President Trump and NFL officials.
