Packers Submit Proposal That Would Ban ‘Tush Push’

Note: The Green Bay Packers have formally submitted a rule change that would ban the “Tush Push.” Here is the proposal, which updates our story on the subject from the Scouting Combine.

The #Packers' tush push proposal pic.twitter.com/ukYjVjRnKR
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) March 19, 2025

“I’ve noticed that’s got a little traction,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said with a smile at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last month. “To be honest with you, haven’t really put much thought into it. I know we’ll probably be talking about that over the next few weeks before we get to the owners meetings, but really haven’t thought about it too much.”

For the play to be banned by the league will require a vote from 24 of 32 teams.

Player safety will be at the forefront of the conversation, and it might be an uphill battle, especially compared to hip-drop tackles, which were banned in March.

“Hip drop and the Tush Push were in the same conversation three years ago,” NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent told NFL Media’s Judy Battista. “Tush push, the Philadelphia Eagles, they just do it better than everybody else. But there are some concerns.

“Our health and safety committee has laid that out today with a brief conversation on the injury report. There’s some challenges … but the Tush Push will become a topic of discussion moving into March.”

One of those challenges?

Question on the Tush Push play is whether it could be modified to keep some semblance of the play intact. The play is run so infrequently that there isn’t enough injury data for the league to push for a ban based on injuries alone.
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) February 24, 2025

That Green Bay is leading the charge against the Tush Push isn’t a surprise. During his monthly Murphy Takes 5 column published on Packers.com on Feb. 1, team President Mark Murphy said he was “not a fan” of the play also known as the Brotherly Shove.

“There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less,” Murphy said. “I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the runner (QB) on this play. There used to be a rule prohibiting this, but it is no longer enforced because I believe it was thought to be too hard for the officials to see.

“The play is bad for the game, and we should go back to prohibiting the push of the runner. This would bring back the traditional QB sneak. That worked pretty well for Bart Starr and the Packers in the Ice Bowl.”

Almost automatic, indeed. Behind the power of the Eagles’ offensive line and quarterback Jalen Hurts, they were successful on 76.7 percent of their Tush Push attempts, according to NFL Network.

“They’ve done probably the best job out of anybody in running it and the success rate is ridiculous,” Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said before the Week 1 game against the Eagles.

“Seeing some people have different plans to stop it. Some have been successful, many have not, and your best bet is to keep them out of those situations where they need a yard. They’re really good at it and we have to have a plan to stop it, so we’ll certainly work on that.”

During that game, Packers defensive toe Kenny Clark suffered a toe injury on the Eagles’ first tush push.

The Packers had great success with tight end Tucker Kraft motioning into the backfield and serving as a short-yardage runner. But those were more like old-school quarterback sneaks, though Kraft did get a shove from a running back.

Between regular season and playoffs, Kraft ran the ball five times and gained five first downs – the highest success rate for any player in the league.

“I know we’re not very successful against it. I know that,” Gutekunst said. “But to be honest, I have not put much thought into it. It's been around for a while. We’ve used it in different fashions with our tight end. I think there will be a lot of discussions about it. I've got to look at the information as far as injury rates, things like that to see. But we’ll see.”

In the Super Bowl, the Chiefs’ All-Pro defensive tackle, Chris Jones, lined up sideways in a futile attempt to stop Hurts from scoring a tush-push touchdown. Not only did Hurts score, but Jones needed a neck massage between series.

“It’s really hard to practice that play,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said after a successful “Love Shove” in 2023. “Sometimes, you just have to practice being in the right spots, and it’s all kind of effort – effort by the O-line to get that yard, effort by the guys behind him to push me. But it’s something that’s hard to practice live, obviously.

“Nothing happened at the bottom of the pile, luckily. No eyes getting poked out or anything.”

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