The Packers didn’t just want the Tush Push gone—they tried to bury it in broad daylight with a war cry for an “immediate ban.” Their proposal? A league-wide ban, masked as a “universal” rule tweak. The play has the entire franchise divided. Even Aaron Glenn summed it up in true defensive grit: “They’ve done a good job of creating a play that’s unstoppable. In my defensive coaching mentality, my job is to stop that play. Our job is to stop that play. I’ll answer it that way.” But that didn’t stick; they rewrote it before the spring meetings, hoping a second shot might finally take down Philly’s not-so-secret weapon. Now, according to this tweaked proposal, they wanted a ban on pushing or pulling the ball carrier anywhere on the field. Spoiler alert: it crashed harder than a goal-line stand. The votes weren’t close—nowhere near the 24 needed. Why? Because Jason Kelce backed the Eagles at an owners meeting.
It all reignited when Jason Kelce took to the mic on the New Heights podcast and dropped a line that echoed through every locker room and league office. “I’ll come out of retirement today if I only have to do 80 Tush Pushes,” he joked with his brother. Travis cracked up beside him as Jason doubled down: “It’d be the easiest job in the world.” That’s the thing—Kelce didn’t just block for the play, he became the face of it. The reason? His sheer brute force and size made him the perfect candidate. The Tush Push may be a war in the trenches, but for him, it’s a legacy. Not everyone’s laughing, though. It has got the franchise in two minds.
Enter ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who peeled back the curtain on recent deliberations regarding this move in a recent Instagram video. According to Schefter’s notes of the meeting, “this play is misunderstood.” He revealed that Jason Kelce sat in a critical meeting with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie to defend the play in person. “They were able to clarify how the play is coached and how it’s taught. They made a compelling case on safety and taking away the downfield push that turned people off from an offensive perspective.” The video by Adam Schefter is aptly captioned as “An inside look at how the tush push survived.”
Schefter didn’t stop there—he detailed how Philly framed their case. “It’s not a linear player crashing headfirst into an opponent,” he said. “The objective is to play with leverage, get below your opponent, and then rise up to create the wave that the ball carrier can ride. And that’s what the Eagles do.” Still, the other franchises weren’t convinced. For them, the Tush Push is a ticking time bomb for injuries and potential lost stars.
Despite the resistance, the vote fell short. “They believe they’re taking a proactive stance towards health and safety,” Schefter said, “but there just weren’t enough teams to get it done.” The clincher? Kelce skipped the Emmys in New York, where he was nominated for Outstanding Personality, just to be in that meeting. “I noticed Jason Kelce wasn’t there,” Schefter explained. “He was in Minneapolis, the Eagles were hiding him out… They brought him in with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, they had him talk about exactly what we’re talking about here.” Just like that, the Tush Push lives to fight in the 2025 season.
Did the Tush Push ‘push’ Jason Kelce out of a career?
Shortly after Jason Kelce announced his retirement, the whispers started. Did Kelce retire due to the long list of injuries he acquired from the tush push? On an episode of New Heights, Jason Kelce tackled the speculation head-on. “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,” he said. Kelce didn’t flinch, ready to clear the air for good. “I’m just going to answer any questions people have about my partaking in this play.”
Then he dropped the line that lit up every football forum. “If anybody has any questions about the ‘tush push,’ or if I retired because of the ‘tush push,’ I’ll tell you this right now, I’ll come out of retirement today.” The play may be brutal in the eyes of some, but for Kelce, it’s clean, smart, and straight-up dominant. While the reason for his retirement is linked to this specific play itself is up for debate, Kelce himself had talked about the lingering injuries, especially in his elbows and knees.
But it wasn’t just Kelce who powered that wave. Jalen Hurts also helped elevate the play into a Philly staple, with clutch moments like Week 6 against the Cowboys in 2022 cementing its reputation. Even Cowboys owner Jerry Jones couldn’t resist chiming in, half-joking that he’d love to push the Eagles out—tush first. But for now, the play stands tall, and the man behind it? Still ready to drive a pile if duty calls.
Now that the decision stands, fans wait to see if the Tush Push boosts the scoreboard or racks up the injury list like critics warned. Only time will tell.
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