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NFL owners got together to vote on several rules and plays, but nothing was bigger than the vote on the Tush Push, which was created and used heavily by the Philadelphia Eagles. Though there were a lot of concerns that the play would be banned, the league owners ended up voting against it, and the Tush Push will continue to live on.
One thing that may have saved the play from being banned was the presence of Jason Kelce, who played with the Eagles. There were rumors that Kelce retired because of the play, but he shut down those talks and came to the meeting to try and convince the owners it’s safe.
During the voting, Kelce even threw out a hilarious joke that gave owners hope that the play was safe, and that the rumors about him were wrong, according to ESPN’s Wickersham.
“Eagles assistant general manager John Ferrari and former Eagles star center Jason Kelce, currently an ESPN analyst, addressed the room next. Kelce said that he would return to the NFL if he could run 60 tush pushes a game,” Wickersham said.
As a center during the Tush Push, there is a lot of responsibility to get the ball moving forward, and they could be left under a big pile at the end of the possession. It seems like a lot of owners had worries about that, but so far, there have not been injuries on the play.
After not being able to initially come to a vote about whether the play would be banned, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell then adjourned a privileged session, which is attended by owners and top league executives. That’s where they came to a vote of 22-10, and it was two votes shy of the 24 needed to ban it.
Kelce’s speech seemed like it made a big difference, and it may have helped teams that were undecided at first about how they wanted to vote. It also opened up the door for players to be more active when it comes to having their perspective on different plays and rules around the league.
For now, it looks like the Tush Push is here to stay, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if it were banned in the future with how close the vote was.
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