Jason Kelce clears up rumors that he left Eagles because of the Tush Push

The NFL owners deliberated this week whether or not to ban a controversial play - the Tush Push. At the heart of the debate are the Philadelphia Eagles, who popularized the move in 2022 and used it to gain ground on short-yardage 4th downs and touchdowns and did so with a near-perfect success rate.

Tush Push here to stay after NFL owners meeting

The arguments against it range from it being a potential safety risk (no data to prove it) to it just not being a “football move”. But if you ask the Eagles? They’ll tell you the others are just upset they haven’t figured out how to do it themselves.

What did Jason Kelce say about the Tush Push?

The Tush Push requires the center and other linemen to shove the quarterback over the line. At the time the Eagles mastered the art of this play, it was Jason Kelce at center for Philly.

He’s since retired, and there were rumors that the Tush Push actually had something to do with it, as the wear and tear on his body became too much. On his “New Heights” podcast with brother Travis Kelce, Jason cleared up that rumor.

“Some of the owners and coaches hinted that the reason I stopped playing is because of the Tush Push, and that I got hurt on the Tush Push frequently,” said Kelce, who was in attendance at the current NFL owners’ meeting to answer questions about the play.

“I’ll tell you this right now,” Kelce went on. “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.”

“I don’t care whether it gets banned or not,” said Kelce. “I think that 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 the quarterback sneak at a very high percentage.”

The NFL owners finally came to the decision to keep the Tush Push at least for another season, as only 22 teams voted on a ban - 24 were necessary for it to pass. Still, only 10 teams voted to keep the Brotherly Shove.

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