NFL owners vote to keep the Tush Push legal, alter onside kick rules
The NFL league owners met Tuesday to discuss several motions which were tabled until the May meeting, the biggest of them all being the legality of the “Tush Push” play. It was the Green Bay Packers who put forth the motion to make the play illegal, and even recently amended the motion by stating it should be illegal for any player to push the ball carrier in any way.
Needing a majority vote the owners voted to keep the Tush Push as legal for at least the 2025 season:
A ban of the Push Tush play that the Philadelphia Eagles popularized did not receive enough votes at today’s league meeting in Minneapolis. The play remains alive. There will be more tush pushes this season. pic.twitter.com/sy1DOIznqP
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 21, 2025
A caveat to all this was how Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie brought in former Eagles center Jason Kelce to speak to the owners regarding the play. It must have been convincing enough to keep the Tush Push legalized for the upcoming season.
That wasn’t the only adjustments made by the owners and the competition committee. The owners voted to alter the rules allowing teams to declare an onside kick at any point in the game if they are trailing in the contest.
The NFL’s owners have passed a rule change that would allow teams to declare onside kicks at any point during a game if they are trailing.
They will be kicked from the 34 instead of the 35, per source.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) May 21, 2025
To clarify, the rule states the team has to be trailing at any point, and they still have to declare they are going to kick an onsides kick. The kicking team will also be moving a yard closer in this situations. With no surprise onside kicks anymore, it seems like a small adjustment which won’t ultimately make a difference in the success of the play.
In what might have been the weirdest situation to come from the meeting was the Detroit Lions removing their proposal to reseed the playoffs based on winning percentage after the regular season.
It seemed odd for the motion to get completely removed, especially after it was tabled at the league owners meetings in Florida just over a month ago. Nonetheless, speculation suggests the league is going to make some drastic changes to the playoff format when the schedule goes from 17 to 18 games, and making changes now didn’t make sense.
There’s been significant discussion about reseeding the playoff format once the NFL moves to an 18-game schedule — which would likely lead to changes in the overall schedule format, especially with conference games carrying more weight. But for now, with a 17-game schedule in… https://t.co/YfSHfwZoO3
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) May 21, 2025
Let us know what you think in the comment section below, but be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for OTAs Phase 3, Mandatory Minicamp, and Training Camp.
IMO, offensive NFL football already had too many advantages over the defense prior to “Brotherly Shove”, so as to not offend Mailata. I’m with Luvu. Okay then, all 32 teams practice better, on both sides.
Might as go with 4th-and-12 from the 33…onside kicks only in fourth quarter were extra dumb, even for NFL. Two nice surprise onside kicks in Championship games…oh well. No more of that stuff.
NFL salivating to become NBA-like. Okay. Keep divisions/conferences as is, keep home/home intradivisional games in regular season. Remove all interconference regular season games. Add a regular season game such that all teams within a conference plays each other once/year minimum. Bingo, 18 games, add one more bye week. Remove exhibition games. Seven winningest teams per conference advance to playoffs. Not perfect balance, but doable.
I don’t like or endorse the plan delineated above. NFL is often really dumb.
Tush Push:
“Guaranteed plays” should not exist. I haven’t done frame-by-frame, but I suspect they’re often lifting Hurts off the ground and/or leveraging him over the center. I find those both of those (if they’re happening) very troublesome.
Playoff seeding: Meh. I don’t think the current system causes a big problem. The weak division winners get eliminated quickly anyway.
Yes, “Brotherly Shove” is unfair as allowed currently. Wild-card teams with better records than division winners may cry unfair, and Ball Don’t Lie. Divisions been fine since 1935.
NFL clearly prefers the O to have an advantage over the D, so not at all surprised with this call. Until players get injured doing it, it will continue.
My suggestion is to get a rugby coach in to help figure out how to counter the play.
I have long thought you could have your DL’s just shoot across the line as low as possible at the snap and wrap up the center and guards feet / legs creating a pile the QB can’t step through, while you have an ILB or safety or both dive over the pile at the QB. If you can get a guy or two back there with hands on the QB you can wrap him up. Yes I know “wrapping up their feet” is holding, but ref’s have to see it to call it. Point is you can not win this play taking on blockers in a conventional way.
JoeB, you’re partly there. It is illegal in rugby to block in front of a ballcarrier, and defenders link up against the ballcarrier in a maul, face-to-face. As long as the QB has pushing in front and from behind…it is as you say, NFL gets what it likes. IMO, “Brotherly Shove” is not nearly as dangerous as the old running start kickoff.
They should change “football” to “brown hand egg”. Perhaps less marketable, I wasn’t in sales.
Indeed they do.
I think having a “guaranteed play” is taking it too far.
I’m also very curious why the rest of the league hasn’t been able to copy the tush-push. It’s a copycat league. Everything gets copied … except for this one play? Their OL is good, but none of those OL guys are irreplaceable generational talents. They even plug’n’played Juergens for Kelce. Something isn’t right.
Jalen Hurts is a savage.
Josh Allen’s no wimp, either.
There are definitely teams at a disadvantage. You’re not running this play with Tua, Flacco, Rodgers, or Murray to name a few, but you can run it like Baltimore does with Andrews. The same can be said for many plays though. I don’t care that they left it in. I don’t think I’m running this play with my 60M QB, it’s playing with fire if you ask me.
I don’t care that its in, either. NFL isn’t fair. Just a fact. Practice time!!