The Tush Push Survives

In 1889, Walter Camp’s modified wedge at Yale became known as the “shoving wedge.” Football historian Alexander Weyand described Camp’s “shoving wedge” in the Saga of American Football:

The players ranged themselves with only the center on the line of scrimmage. Each man placed his hands on the hips of the man in front. When the ball was snapped, the players closed in tight and shoved. The ball carrier was protected on all sides. 

Sound familiar? The Philadelphia Eagles’ infamous “tush push” is Walter Camp’s “shoving wedge.” The special, pet play of the Eagles dates to the 1880s. It was also banned in the early 1900s. It was banned because the “shoving wedge,” and mass momentum plays like it, left death and seriously broken bodies in its wake. The play was banned to save football. That ban has never been lifted. 

Yesterday, the NFL’s owners voted against banning the “tush push.” In more accurate words, the NFL’s owners voted against banning an already banned play. It was a close vote. 22 of the 32 owners voted for the ban. They needed 24. 

The 10 teams that kept the play alive:

Philadelphia Eagles 

Baltimore Ravens 

Cleveland Browns 

Detroit Lions 

Jacksonville Jaguars 

Miami Dolphins 

New England Patriots 

New Orleans Saints 

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans 

As you’d expect, Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie spoke long and passionately about preserving his team’s pet play. Strangely, former Eagles center Jason Kelce was also in the room trying to sway the needed votes. Strangely because he’s spoken since his retirement about how much he hated being a part of the play. Perhaps Kelce enjoys the play now as a spectator. 

Since few in the football world care much about the game’s history before Super Bowl I, it’s really no surprise that everyone seems to ignore that this play has already been banned. I don’t like that this play survived this vote. I don’t care that the Eagles are so successful at its execution. They have the perfect personnel for its success. They have a great, big, strong offensive line and a quarterback that can squat a house. I do care that not every team has that. It’s a brutal play. I’m certain that the brutality of the play will sadly be revealed when teams without the perfect personnel try to execute it. This play has broken bodies before. It will break bodies again. 

It’s the ignorance of football’s history that bothers me the most.