NFL to consider prohibiting pushing and pulling, which would outlaw tush push

Owners discussed the tush push play for more than half an hour Tuesday, the chairman of the Competition Committee, Rich McKay, said. In the end, the vote was tabled until the May meetings.

The Packers, who presented the proposal seeking to ban the tush push, want the committee to consider banning pushing or pulling of any player on any play.

“A lot of discussion about [the tush push]. A lot teams have a lot of views,” McKay said. “You never like any discussion in any room to be projected toward a team or two. It’s never something we like doing. In this case, I think the discussion became No. 1 safety; No. 2 should you have to defend it; No. 3 is this part of the history of football. All those kind of discussions happened. I think we evolved to the idea that, up to 2004, we had rules in place that prohibited pushing and pulling. Just prohibited it. We deleted that from the rulebook, because it became harder for officials to officiate it downfield. So, that got deleted. From that came a play like this, a formation like this. So, I think the idea was, Listen, as opposed to voting on this proposal today, Green Bay asked could you go back and talk about reintroducing the 2004 language, study it, understand it and talk about it again when we get back to May.”

This is the third offseason that the Competition Committee has reviewed the play, but the first time a club has submitted a rules proposal aimed at eliminating or restricting it.

McKay admitted there are no current safety concerns with the play, though Bills coach Sean McDermott cited health and safety as the reason he wanted a ban. No player has been seriously injured on the play, and McKay said not enough data exists regarding the health and safety of the play.

“A lot of people are concerned with what may be [with potential injuries in the future],” McKay said.

Instead of banning one play, used mostly by one team, the Competition Committee now will begin researching whether to outlaw pushing and pulling on both sides of the ball. Currently, as McKay pointed out, the offense is allowed to push, something defensive players are prohibited from doing.

The Eagles and Bills have scored a touchdown or achieved a first down on 87 percent of their attempts using the play.