, a play often seen in
Rugby union. The Tush Push is a variation of the
quarterback sneak, which is a basic
play in American football where the
quarterback lines up directly behind the
center, takes the snap, and immediately dives or pushes forward behind the offensive line, who simultaneously move forward. The play is designed to gain a short distance, usually to convert a 3rd or 4th down and inches, or to score near the goal line. In the case of the Tush Push, a player, usually the quarterback, is pushed from behind by one or two of his own teammates as he and the offensive line simultaneously drive forward after being lined up in tight formation. and pick-and-go.
Origins The play's origins trace back decades to the innovative coaching of
Bill Snyder at
Kansas State University. Starting around 2005, Snyder began experimenting with assisted quarterback sneaks, recognizing the potential for maximizing short-yardage efficiency. His approach was characteristically methodical–identifying a strategic advantage and refining it through systematic implementation. The play and its nickname can also be traced to the
Bush push, where
University of Southern California quarterback
Matt Leinart scored a last-second touchdown against the
University of Notre Dame in 2005 thanks to a shove from teammate
Reggie Bush; the NFL removed the prohibition on pushing ball-carriers the next year.
Nick Sirianni, their
offensive coordinator at the time, would join the
Philadelphia Eagles as head coach the next year. He later credited Brissett and Colts head coach
Frank Reich for inspiring the play, along with his future Eagles offensive line coach
Jeff Stoutland and their former quarterback
Carson Wentz. During the next week's game against the
Dallas Cowboys, the team additionally lined up a running back behind Hurts, resulting in the now-familiar formation of two players on each of the quarterback's hips. as well as the "Brotherly Shove", which is a play on the "
City of Brotherly Love" nickname for
Philadelphia. The league quickly began to take notice of the play's effectiveness, and several teams would attempt to emulate the Tush Push with their own personnel, notably the
Buffalo Bills with their 6'5" quarterback
Josh Allen. The
Seattle Seahawks would also implement the Tush Push during the 2025 season using their 6'3" tight end
AJ Barner to snap the ball; Seahawks fans would call their variation of the play the "Barnyard". After successfully incorporating the play into their offensive playbook, the Eagles began implementing new variations to further confuse the defense. During the
2024 NFC Championship Game the Eagles incorporated a
hard count into the play, resulting in the opposing
Washington Commanders drawing three consecutive encroachment penalties. Commanders linebacker
Frankie Luvu received a disqualification warning after getting called for the first two penalties during this sequence, and after the Commanders were penalized for the third time, the referee warned that a touchdown would be automatically awarded to the Eagles if it happened again.
Ban attempts In February 2025, the
Green Bay Packers submitted a proposal to the NFL's competition committee to ban the Tush Push, with the play being a topic of discussion at the Annual League Meeting in March. Sirianni spoke against the ban, calling it "a little unfair" to target the play merely for the fact that it was highly successful for Philadelphia, and added that the team had worked tirelessly to perfect it. Other teams opposed banning, as some had begun experimenting with the play themselves. On April 1, 2025, the league declined to hold a formal vote on the Packers' proposed ban after an informal poll showed the teams to be evenly divided on the issue, short of the 3/4 majority that would have been needed to implement the ban. A second attempt to ban the play was submitted, also by the Packers on May 21, 2025, during the league's annual spring meetings. Eagles owner
Jeff Lurie and former Eagles center
Jason Kelce defended the play during the meeting, emphasizing the importance of its safety. Lions head coach
Dan Campbell attributed being a "purist" of the sport as his reason for keeping the play legal, stating "if you take something out of the game, then you take another thing out of the game, then pretty soon you're not wearing pads, and then you're playing 30 minutes. A team found a niche, they're good at it. It's unique, it's physical. I don't want to take anything else out of the game - I just want to leave the game alone." Packers CEO and president
Mark Murphy, who authored the proposal to ban the play, stepped down from his position in July, requiring a new ban proposal to have a new author, more support, and more votes. Despite the Tush Push remaining legal, Kelce predicted that the play would eventually be banned, saying "I think that there's a lot of people within the league, at multiple levels, that want the play to be gone, which is fine. I think [the Eagles] will still go back to running quarterback sneak, and I'm sure they'll figure out ways to be successful. I'm not really that concerned with it, to be very candid." At the end of the
2025 NFL season, a poll released by
The Athletic showed that 53% of the 4,920 readers who voted wanted the play out of football. However, the publication also reported in another poll given to NFL players that 83.8% of them were against the play being banned. This poll also noted that defensive players were less in favor of banning the Tush Push than offensive players. One anonymous defensive player said that banning the Tush Push would also mean that "you’re looking at banning quarterback sneaks. It’s the same thing, just better executed." During the 2026 annual spring meeting, no proposals to ban the Tush Push were submitted, ensuring the play's legality for the upcoming season. == Design and execution ==