Call it what you will — the Tush Push, Brotherly Shove or something less poetic if you’re on the opposing team — the Philadelphia Eagles’ controversial offensive weapon will continue for the foreseeable future.

Tabled with an amendment to the wording of the original Green Bay-submitted proposal, further discussions were taken in an owners-only huddle at the Spring League Meeting in Minnesota, before the decision was taken to maintain the status quo. According to sources, the resolution fell just two votes short of attracting the 24 ‘ayes’ needed to rewrite the rulebook, despite the Eagles using the rugby-derived tactic prolifically on their way to winning Super Bowl LIX. Opponents of the Tush Push cited health and safety grounds of something they do not consider a ‘football play’ as sufficient grounds for it to be outlawed but, notably, ten teams voted in favour of keeping the play legal, including the Detroit Lions and New England Patriots.

The champions must have felt that their position was in sufficient jeopardy, however, to warrant former center Jason Kelce being brought on as a ‘persuader’ by owner Jeffrey Lurie but, in the end, the decision was taken in private — away from onlookers, media and ‘special guests’ — with the outcome that Philadelphia will be able to continue propelling their quarterback to both first downs and touchdowns once the yardage warrants the assistance of those around him.

In typical Philly style, the Eagles’ social media team ‘celebrated’ the reprieve with an image from one of their two wins over Green Bay in 2024, before NFL.com reported the posting of a video on the team’s official YouTube channel entitled 26 Minutes of the Tush Push. There was one other significant alteration voted in by the owners, with teams trailing in a game now able to take an onside kick at any point, rather than just in the final quarter. The Detroit Lions withdrew their proposal to redraw the playoff seeding rules was withdrawn by the team, but has apparently garner enough attention for the committee themselves to bring it up for discussion at a later date.