The Green Bay Packers continue to pound the drum to ban the tush push with a new proposal for teams to vote on.
Earlier in the offseason, the NFL decided to table the voting on the controversial tush push play designed and perfected by the Philadelphia Eagles. The Green Bay Packers have seemingly led the charge for a change to be made, and it sounds like the franchise offered a new proposal on Monday.
With the league set to begin voting on numerous potential rule changes at the league meetings in Minneapolis, the Packers reportedly changed the wording of the tush push ban, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The revised proposal is what the league will vote on.
The changes the Packers made to the tush push ban proposal reflect rules the NFL made before the year 2005, per Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports. Green Bay claims that the play disregards player safety and slows down the pace of the game. However, there is no evidence of either of those being true.
“The Packers amended proposal to ban the ‘tush push' — going back to the pre-2005 rules. The reason for banning it — Player safety, pace of play. Neither of the two [has] affected the game of football. No players injured by the NFL study, and no evidence of the play slowing down the game.”
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Rumors are that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, along with numerous “prominent league figures,” want the play removed, according to Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. The Packers' proposal to ban the tush push needs 24 votes for the ban to become official. Last time when the league voted on it, it came to a 16-16 split.
“The belief around NFL circles is that some prominent league figures — including Commissioner Roger Goodell — want the tush push banned. The last known vote count was roughly split: 16 in favor, 16 leaning no. It takes 24 votes to pass. My prediction (just a guess) is it gets banned this week.”
Green Bay was eliminated by Philadelphia in the Wild Card round of the playoffs this last season after suffering a 22-10 loss. Although the Packers have led the charge on banning the play, the team has gained support from some talking heads, players, and fans alike. But it's a controversial position, as media members, players, and fans don't appear to have a problem with the tush push.
The league meeting is set to begin on May 20 and end on May 21. So, we should have more details about the potential tush push ban by Wednesday.
