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The NFL Can’t Ban the Tush Push Without Banning TreVeyon Henderson’s Touchdown Last Night Along With It
By Kyle Pagan
Published:
TreVeyon Henderson’s first touchdown was awesome last night! Nothing fires me up more than the Big Uglies getting behind a ball carrier and pushing them five more yards into the endzone:
Unfortunately not all pushes are created equal in the NFL because that’s a rugby scrum if I’ve ever seen one, right? How could anyone argue it’s not? When you watched this last night, if you have a brain, you probably thought to yourself, “What is the difference between that play up there and the Tush Push?” I guess the only thing the anti-Tushers could hang their hat on is the randomness of it. Sure. But I’d argue getting multiple 300 lb guys to carry your running back an extra five yards is more detrimental to the defense than a Tush Push that is good for 1-2 yards. That’s just solid public education math right there. So good luck to an NFL team that can craft a rule that will still allow Henderson to be lifted into the endzone while also banning the Tush Push. Because the Packers already tried to do it when they revised the language in their proposal before the league vote and we all know how that turned out via Brooke Pryor at ESPN.com:
Ahead of a vote that could ban the tush push, the Green Bay Packers submitted a revision of their rule proposal that would more broadly ban pushing or pulling the ball carrier anywhere on the field.
In the proposal’s updated language, “offensive players cannot assist the runner except by individually blocking opponents for him.” The Packers also eliminated “immediately at the snap,” in the updated language.
If that proposal passed Henderson’s touchdown last night would’ve been wiped off the board. We can’t allow that. Might as well give them flags if that’s how they’re going to roll. I mean there’s just something so Darwin about one team imposing their will on another. That’s football. It’s the great equalizer. Two teams face off with each other and try to break the other one’s spirit first. A division rivalry game should be physical and last night the Pats proved they were more physical than the Jets. Beat them senseless. Guys like Micah Parsons can bitch and complain about what is and isn’t football all they want, but he conveniently sat last night’s play out:
I just have no idea how a league that claims a play is to hard to officiate is going to add even more to a ref’s. I can’t wait until the tears of unfathomable sadness that come from a fanbase who were boned next season because they made up some silly language to ban the Tush Push:
Kyle writes blog posts and does Man on the Street-style videos all around Philadelphia. He graduated from Temple University (a basketball school) in 2015. contact: k.pagan@sportradar.com