Heading into Wednesday’s NFL owners meeting in Minneapolis, the Philadelphia Eagles’ highly successful tush push play — better known as the “Brotherly Shove” among Birds fans — appeared destined for elimination. The Green Bay Packers’ proposal to ban the play seemed to be gaining momentum, but thanks to a Hail Mary effort from the Eagles bringing in former center Jason Kelce, the proposal fell short of the required votes.
The vote to ban the “tush push” was 22-10. Twenty-four votes are needed for a rule proposal to be implemented.
Coincidentally, the 22-10 vote mirrored the exact score of the Eagles’ victory over the Packers in last season’s Wild Card game on their path to winning their second Super Bowl in franchise history.
According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, 10 teams voted in favor of preserving the play, including the:
- Eagles
- Baltimore Ravens
- Cleveland Browns
- Detroit Lions
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Miami Dolphins
- New England Patriots
- New Orleans Saints
- New York Jets
- Tennessee Titans
NFL needed 24 votes today to ban the Tush Push, but got only 22. Here are the 10 teams that voted against the Tush Push ban, per sources:
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 21, 2025
🏈Eagles
🏈Ravens
🏈Browns
🏈Lions
🏈Jaguars
🏈Dolphins
🏈Patriots
🏈Saints
🏈Jets
🏈Titans
The Packers sought to ban the play citing pace of play and player safety concerns, despite no credible data showing the tush push is more dangerous than any other football play.
During today’s meeting, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie delivered a 30-minute speech defending the play his franchise has mastered. Following Lurie’s presentation, Kelce addressed the 31 other owners to counter misconceptions after some had attempted to use his previous comments as justification to ban the play.
Before the proposal was tabled during the NFL owners meeting in April, Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula, who supported the ban, claimed Kelce retired because of wear and tear from the “tush push,” though some reported it came across as a joke, according to ESPN.
Packers president Mark Murphy had previously cited Kelce’s comments about how the play “sucks for a center” and is “grueling.”
“I believe Jason Kelce has made public comments about, he’s glad he’s not involved in the play anymore because he felt it was pretty dangerous,” Murphy said on the “Steam Room” podcast, via ESPN.
However, in a “New Heights” episode released Wednesday that was recorded prior to the vote, Kelce explained he was attending the meeting to clarify that his comments were taken out of context.
“There were some things said at the last owners meetings,” Kelce stated on his podcast. “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. I’m just going to answer any questions people have about my partaking in this play.”
Jason was invited to the NFL Owners Meeting to set the record straight before the vote to ban the Tush Push
— New Heights (@newheightshow) May 21, 2025
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!!! pic.twitter.com/xmLqS8HdIa
Kelce even joked he would return from retirement if the play was all he had to execute.
“I’ll tell you this right now: I’ll come out of retirement today if you tell me all I’ve got to do is run 80 tush pushes to play in the NFL,” the future Hall of Famer said. “I’ll do that gladly. It’ll be the easiest job in the world.”
Kelce retired from the NFL following the 2023 season after spending his entire 13-year career with the Eagles. He was a six-time First-Team All-Pro, seven-time Pro Bowler and part of Philadelphia’s 2017 Super Bowl championship team.
Thanks to Kelce’s intervention, the Eagles will keep the tush push in their playbook for the foreseeable future.
