Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata told reporters on Tuesday he hoped NFL owners would ban the Tush Push, the successful style of quarterback sneak that his team had mastered with the football in Jalen Hurts’ hands while other teams had failed to mimic that proficiency.
But not because he thought the play was dangerous, unfair or had no place in football, as its detractors said.
“In terms of them banning the Tush Push, I hate that name, so I hope they do ban it,” Mailata said. “Stupid name.”
But NFL owners did not accommodate Mailata on Wednesday. Instead, they failed to approve a rule change in line with the league’s regulations over its first 85 years on pushing the ball-carrier to keep the rule in use for the past 20.
But it’s only been in the past four seasons that the rule change made in 2005 has sparked controversy. With Hurts at quarterback and two or three teammates lined up behind him to push, Philadelphia has plowed into the end zone or over the line to gain on short-yardage snaps like clockwork in a formation that came to be known as the Tush Push and Brotherly Shove.
In his four seasons as the Eagles’ starting quarterback, Hurts scored 54 touchdowns. Only two quarterbacks in NFL history have more. Thirty-three of those came on 1-yard runs. During that time, the former Alabama standout also set the NFL record for playoff touchdowns by a quarterback with 10. Half came on 1-yard runs.
Asked on Tuesday about the possibility of the NFL banning the play on Wednesday, Hurts said: “I don’t necessarily have a comment on that.”
The Eagles celebrated the failure of the proposal on social media with a photo of Hurts about to take a snap with the words: “Push on.”
At the annual league meeting on April 1, NFL owners tabled a vote on a rule change that would have banned the Philadelphia-style quarterback sneak.
At that time, the Green Bay Packers’ proposal had more narrowly focused on the quarterback sneak. Again proposed by the Packers, the rule change considered on Wednesday by the league’s owners was much more in line with the regulations the NFL used through the 2005 season, when the probation on pushing the ball-carrier was dropped.
The changes proposed to Rule 12, Section 1, Article 4 – Assisting the Runner and Interlocking Interference – outlawed aiding the runner by pushing or pulling him in any direction at any time as well offensive players lifting the ball-carrier off his feet.
The stated intent of the rule was to prohibit “an offensive player from pushing, pulling, lifting, or assisting the runner except by individually blocking opponents for him.” Violators would incur a 10-yard penalty.
The reasons cited on the proposal to make the change were “player safety” and “pace of play,” although the NFL has no data showing the Tush Push caused an increase in injuries.
While pulling a ball-carrier is still illegal, the failure of the proposal means pushing the ball-carrier remains in play.
Twenty-four of the 32 team owners had to vote for the change for it to pass. ESPN reported the proposal came up two votes short of approval.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.