Roger Goodell discusses potential ban on pushing and pulling players

One of the most controversial topics of discussion across the NFL this season has been the infamous “tush push,” a short-yardage play all but perfected by the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Green Bay Packers proposed banning the play starting in the 2025 season, but the proposal did not receive enough votes at the annual owners’ meeting in Tampa Bay to pass.

However, it doesn’t appear that the case is closed.

“A lot of discussion about [the tush push]. A lot teams have a lot of views,” said Rich McKay, the chairman of the Competition Committee, according to Pro Football Talk.

“You never like any discussion in any room to be projected toward a team or two. It’s never something we like doing. In this case, I think the discussion became No. 1 safety; No. 2 should you have to defend it; No. 3 is this part of the history of football.All those kind of discussions happened. I think we evolved to the idea that, up to 2004, we had rules in place that prohibited pushing and pulling. Just prohibited it. We deleted that from the rulebook, because it became harder for officials to officiate it downfield.

“So, that got deleted. From that came a play like this, a formation like this. So, I think the idea was, Listen, as opposed to voting on this proposal today, Green Bay asked could you go back and talk about reintroducing the 2004 language, study it, understand it and talk about it again when we get back to May.”

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell also discussed the controversial play.

“I think that makes a lot of sense in many ways because that expands it beyond that single play,” Goodell said, per Pro Football Talk. “There are a lot of plays where you see people pushing or pulling somebody that are not in the tush push formation that I think do have an increased risk of injury.

“So I think the Committee will look at that and come back in May with some proposals.”