Eagles Send Jason Kelce to League Meetings as Special Ambassador of Tush Push

Philadelphia is pulling out all the stops to save the play.
Kelce retired after the 2024 season
Kelce retired after the 2024 season / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Eagles are on the verge of losing their most famous play.

On Wednesday, NFL owners are gathering to vote on whether the "tush push" should be banned. The Eagles popularized the play and it's become a big talking point around the league. Those in favor of the ban believe the play is unsafe and more outspoken members of that group question whether it's actually a football play or something more akin to rugby. Those against the ban (many of whom unsurprisingly reside in the greater Philadelphia area) contest that the data doesn't indicate any injury risk and opposing defenses should just try to stop it.

As the vote nears, inside reporting suggests a ban is more likely than not. So, on the morning of the final tally, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie pulled out one final stop: Jason Kelce.

That's right. Kelce showed up to the meetings in Minnesota to advocate for the tush push and explain to owners why it should not be banned. It's one last attempt by the Eagles to prove their point correct.

Kelce does know better than anyone what it's like to be in the middle of the tush push. The Eagles began running the play while Kelce was the team's starting center and were largely successful because of his excellence as a blocker in short-yardage situations. He was, literally and figuratively, at the center of it all when the tush push was born.

Now an NFL analyst and podcaster, Kelce will be trying to help the Eagles one more time.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.