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| Photo: AP |
Like most of you reading this, I am a diehard Eagles fan and have been my whole life. I have lived and died with this team, from the 80's Buddy teams that seemed so great yet couldn't win a playoff game, to the Andy Reid teams that won lots of playoff games but only one NFC title game and no Super Bowls, to the Pederson and Sirianni Title winners. I bleed green, except for the spring and summer when my blood reverts back to the normal red. Having said all of that, my thoughts on the Tush Push have NOTHING to do with my Philly football fandom.
Mere hours prior to writing this article, the NFL owners decided to table the vote on banning the Tush Push. How ironic, right? The Tush Push...got pushed. It will be brought up again next month at the NFL spring meeting in Minnesota. I hear Minnesota is lovely in May, but I digress. Reports say 16 owners support the ban. 75% of the owners, or 24 of them, would be needed for an NFL rule change. The fact that the vote got tabled seems to show the Packers, who formally proposed the ban, did not have the support necessary. They may have had enough votes in the Electoral College, but here they need the popular vote.
I have to tell you, I am pleasantly surprised. I really thought this ban would easily pass. Some of these NFL owners and executives are such weasels, that they would vote to ban the Tush Push rather than...oh, I don't know...get their teams to figure out how to stop it. What's the best way to stop the Tush Push? Get rid of it.
Some in football argue it's an injury risk. Has anyone been hurt because of the tush push? Some say it's not a football move. Really? Isn't football all about guys hurtling into one another? Isn't that the very essence of the game? Others say it takes no skill to do. If that was true, more than just one team would be good at it. It does take skill and it takes physical strength.
Jalen Hurts can squat 600 pounds. Even with all that power, without proper execution it won't work. The Eagles worked hard at this. They constantly practiced the play and they perfected it, to the point where it works like 90% of the time. Since it is so successful, 1st and 10 is really 1st and 9. If the Eagles have a 4th and 1 but they're still on their side of midfield, they'll go for it. The play has opened up so many possibilities for the Birds.
But here's the thing. Other teams can do this too. It's not like this is some top secret information that only the Eagles have. Any team is welcome to run this play. But rather than do that, or at the very least learn how to stop it, they want it banned. How freakin' lame?
I'm reminded of the Jack Nicholson line from "A Few Good Men"..."You can't handle the truth". The truth is, "you can't handle the tush push!" Admit it...you read that line like Nicholson, right?
Banning the Tush Push would be a huge mistake for the NFL. Besides the faulty logic behind the desire to ban it, it would set a bad precedent for football. The next time a team comes up with a signature play like that, another team will propose a ban of that too. The Tush Push needs to stay