NFL teams have been debating whether they want the tush push to be removed from football, and former Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce does not want those in favor of the ban to use him as part of their argument.
Kelce revealed on the latest “New Heights” podcast that he had decided to fly to the NFL owners’ meetings in Minneapolis, Minn., to address some reports he had heard involving his name. The former Pro Bowl center said some owners and coaches said at the previous owners’ meetings in March that Kelce retired because he got hurt “frequently” on the tush-push play.
That is not true, according to Kelce. In fact, Kelce says he would come out of retirement if all he had to do was run the tush push.
“I’m just going to answer any questions people have about my partaking in this play. I don’t care whether it gets banned or not,” Kelce said. “At the end of the day, this is why you vote on things. And if they vote to ban the tush push, the Eagles are still gonna run quarterback sneak at a very high percentage. I’m just going to offer if anybody has any questions about the tush push or if I retired because of the tush push.
“I’ll tell you this right now: I’ll come out of retirement today if you tell me all I gotta do is run 80 tush pushes to play in the NFL. I’ll do that gladly. It’ll be the easiest job in the world and it’ll be, like, 80-something snaps.”
Jason was invited to the NFL Owners Meeting to set the record straight before the vote to ban the Tush Push
— New Heights (@newheightshow) May 21, 2025
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!!! pic.twitter.com/xmLqS8HdIa
Kelce retired after the 2023 season. He played a big role in the success of the tush push during the end of his tenure with the Eagles, though Jalen Hurts and company have continued to execute it well without Kelce.
The official proposal to ban the tush push, which was submitted by the Green Bay Packers, cites “player safety” and “pace of play” as the reasons a rule change is needed. To this point, there has been no known evidence to support the claim that players are more likely to be injured during a tush-push play.
For what it’s worth, the Eagles do not seem overly concerned about their favorite short-yardage play potentially being banned. One offensive lineman had a surprising take on the debate this week.
