NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent told reporters Thursday that the league won't pursue any proposals to ban the "tush push" quarterback sneak popularized by Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles.
One of the concerns around the play was whether it offered an unfair advantage, though that was contradicted by the fact that it wasn't a universally successful maneuver and only certain teams (the Eagles) seemed to master it.
Olivia Reiner @ReinerOliviaOn today's pre-annual league meeting call with media, NFL football ops EVP Troy Vincent discussed the sentiment around the Tush Push/Brotherly Shove. After consulting with various committees all season (competition, health and safety, etc.), "It was best to say leave it alone."
"The Eagles," Vincent acknowledged, "do it well."
The Eagles converted an incredible 37-of-40 quarterback sneaks last year, a 92.5 percent conversion rate. That success rate largely came down to the lower body strength of Hurts and a stout offensive line, led by former center Jason Kelce, a master of leverage.
"Don't punish a team that strategically does it well," Vincent told Pro Football Talk back in February.
Health concerns were also raised in the past when discussing the tush push, though no data surfaced suggesting it was a greater injury risk than other plays.
"There just wasn't injury data that would give the committee the opportunity to make a decision," Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy told reporters. "Concern? Sure, as we've discussed. But not the kind of injury data that Troy described that the committee would be looking for."
With the tush push here to stay but Kelce now retired, it will be interesting to see if the Eagles convert at such a high rate going forward. One thing is certain: The future Hall of Fame center likely won't miss running the play.
"Man, all the weight and everything lying up on top of you," he told NBC's Devin McCourty in October (h/t PFT). "And you've got to wait for everybody else to get up before you can get up. It's a grueling play, for sure. And, you know, if you do it right, you're at the bottom. ... If you're not at the bottom, it usually didn't go well."
