If you’re a Star Trek nerd like me, you’ve heard of the old Klingon saying: “Today is a good day to die.”
Well, today is a good day for one of the biggest garbage plays in the history of the NFL to die. The NFL Rules Committee is poised to put an end to “The Tush Push.”
Yes, the play the Eagles made famous back in 2022 is on the verge of getting a brotherly shove right out of the league.
Frankly, it should have been outlawed before the 2023 season.
The defenders, a.k.a. Eagles fans, are claiming that the only reason for the ban is petty jealousy. Because they “perfected it” and no one else has, people want it banned.
Hang on to your tin foil hats up there in Philadelphia, but that isn’t the reason.
And it has never been the case, either.
Even if it had been the Dallas Cowboys that had come up with this abomination, the reason to ban it would still be valid. Yes, I’d still be leading the charge against it.
It isn’t an American football play.
It is a rugby play.
American football is not rugby.
An Unfair Advantage
There is a current rule on the books that, for some reason, is not enforced any longer, that makes it illegal for a player to aid a ball carrier in gaining yardage.
The tush push is already an illegal play.
The Rules Committee today can take a big step forward in reminding the league of this fact.
The tush push gives the offense an unfair competitive advantage over the defense. Not only that, the defense is, by rule, barred from pushing one of its players to gain an advantage over the offense.
So why is the offense granted this advantage?
Brought To A Head
There have been grumblings about this play ever since its debut. Some have cited a potential injury issue, while the defenders point to a “lack of data” to support such a stance.
So they’re happy to wait until some player is carted off paralyzed before they’ll address the issue?
But let a pass rusher’s pinky finger lightly graze a quarterback’s face mask and the league’s response is to create a 15-yard penalty in the name of “player safety”?
That crippling injury happening is a “when”, not an “if”, time bomb that the league can defuse now. They really should do it now before it happens.
Fortunately, the Eagles ran the play one too many times and ran into a defense that came up with a plan to stop it that has forced the league, maybe, to finally take action.
Faced with a tush push at the goal line, the Commanders’ defense was flagged for offsides, once on a defender flying over the top to land on Jalen Hurts before the snap.
After several consecutive penalties that basically moved the ball all of 20 inches, the officials made a bizarre ruling. If it happened again, the Eagles would be “awarded” a touchdown.
Really?
And just how embarrassing would it be to the NFL for the official box score to go on permanent record to read: Awarded Touchdown. (Elliott point after)?
An Unacceptable Solution
If the committee moves the ban proposal forward, the entire league will vote on it.
It will take 24 of the 32 teams for the ban to be passed. It remains unclear if there are 24 teams that will vote to ban the play.
If they choose not to, the defenses will have to figure out a way to stop the nearly unstoppable.
There is a way to do it. I guarantee you, the NFL will not like the solution either.
Back in the 1970s, the Washington Redskins had one game plan to beat the Dallas Cowboys.
Knock Roger Staubach out of the game, by any means possible.
The way they chose? Hit Staubach as hard as they could, as often as they could, and as close to his head as they could.
And they didn’t care how many 15-yard penalties they drew doing it.
I wonder how many tush pushes the Eagles, or any other team, with a $40+ million a year quarterback is going to want to run if said quarterback has a target on him?
At some point, a defensive coordinator is going to tell his players to go hunting, and don’t worry about the flags for late hits and unnecessary roughness either, every time said quarterback touches the ball.
Is this an acceptable solution? Absolutely not.
For The Good Of The Game
But if the NFL refuses to run this rugby play out of the league, eventually one or two defensive coordinators are going to do it for them.
And that is the player safety issue the league needs to focus on when this vote is taken.
One way or the other, someone is going to get seriously hurt because of this non-American football play. It’s long overdue to do something about it.
Today is a good day to bury this play for good.