Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce lobbied NFL owners to keep the tush push before their spring meeting vote Wednesday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports.
Kelce, along with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and assistant general manager Jon Ferrari, spoke for 45 minutes in the meeting’s general session in Minnesota, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reports. Kelce’s speech focused on the play’s mechanics and how it wasn’t overly dangerous. The 37-year-old retired in March 2024 after 13 seasons with the team and was a key figure in the Eagles’ success deploying the play.
Kelce declined to comment to the media after the proposed ban failed to pass, according to Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein.
“There were some things said at the last owners meeting,” Kelce said on his “New Heights” podcast, which was published Wednesday. “Some of the owners and coaches hinted that the reason I stopped playing was because of the tush push and that I got hurt on the tush push frequently.”
Kelce added, “I’ll tell you this right now, I’ll come out of retirement today if you tell me all I gotta do is run 80 tush pushes to play in the NFL.”
The tush push involves the snapping of the ball to the quarterback, with the passer immediately being pushed forward by his teammates. The center is at the bottom of the ensuing pile of players. The Eagles have one of the highest success rates of the play.
The Green Bay Packers submitted a proposal in February to outlaw the play, citing player safety and pace of play. The motion, which was revised Monday, sought to ban the pushing or pulling of any ball carrier in “any direction at any time.”
The ban ultimately didn’t receive the number of votes required to outlaw the play. Twenty-four of the 32 NFL owners must be in favor of any particular motion for it to pass. The final vote was 22-10 in support of the ban, The Athletic’s Diana Russini reports.
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