NFL
NFL Competition Committee Not Pushing to Ban ‘Tush Push’ for 2026 — But Future Remains Uncertain
The NFL and its Competition Committee are not pushing to eliminate the controversial "tush push" play for the 2026 season. Although there is currently no proposal to ban it, Commissioner Roger Goodell previously expressed concerns about the play's impact on player safety. League sources suggest it may still be up for debate in the future, as the NFL aims to improve officiating and instant replay processes instead.
NFL: FEB 09 Super Bowl LIX - Eagles vs Chiefs by Icon Sportswire | Getty Images
The NFL and its powerful Competition Committee are not making a push to eliminate the controversial “tush push” for the 2026 season, coming as a surprise to some around the league.
But that doesn’t mean the short-yardage, heavy-contact, rugby-like play made famous by the Philadelphia Eagles is here to stay, according to league sources.
A year ago Commissioner Roger Goodell was campaigning hard behind closed doors and speaking out about the potential “health and safety” issues of the play and it was a hot button issue after a playoff game between the Eagles and Commanders featured a bizarre sequence of events around the Washington endzone with Commanders defenders repeatedly jumping offsides.
Rich McKay, head of the league’s competition committee, reported recently that there is currently no proposal afoot to ban the play for 2026, but that doesn’t mean it’s here to stay.
A year-to-year proposition
“I can promise you one thing,” said one NFL general manager who wouldn’t mind seeing the controversial play banned, “if Roger and his guys on Park Avenue (at the NFL headquarters) decide a year from now they think it’s bad for the game, and they want it out, you’ll see a proposal to get it banned. It got really heated last year. Maybe they don’t want to jump right back into that again.”
The NFL badly needs to clean up its act in the officiating department, and several NFL team executives said they anticipate a heavy focus from the league office in regards to improving the instant replay process and specifically how the NFL wades into in-game decisions from the central command center in New York. Getting back into a leaguewide argument about the merits of a “Tush Push” play only two teams heavily employ might not be the optics the NFL has in mind this offseason.
The measure to eliminate the play from the game failed by just two votes last year, but it required a concerted push from the league over two NFL meetings last spring to reach that point. And some football people still wouldn’t be shocked if it was out by 2027.
La Canfora has covered over 20 Super Bowls and League Meetings and NFL drafts, building a wide network of sources throughout all aspects of the game. He was an award winning print journalist as well, working at The Detroit Free Press and The Baltimore Sun prior to his first stint at The Washington Post. He has covered sporting events around the world, including two Winter Olympics and all of the 2006 World Cup. He attended his first NFL game in 1978, and would soon kindle what has become a lifelong love and appreciation of the sport. La Canfora is also a professional handicapper, specializing in the NFL, creating a daily sports wagering game show - "Wanna Bet?" He also hosts nationally broadcast NFL radio shows in the US, as well as a daily sports radio show in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.