There’s a long list of American things we don’t really want or need in Canada. Among them: fair catches on punt returns, a two-party political system, Donald Trump, LIV Golf tournaments and the “Tush Push.”
Fortunately we already have rules against most of them, including the NFL’s problematic short-yardage play dubbed the “Tush Push.” The boring, dangerous but effective formation has been run to such perfection by the Philadelphia Eagles that it has evolved into the “Brotherly Shove” as homage to its prime benefactors in the City of Brotherly Love.
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Rival teams hate the play so much the NFL is expected to ban it before next season. It’s already illegal in the Canadian Football League, probably because a ball carrier’s back or legs could get seriously wrenched while being shoved aggressively from behind by massive teammates.
“You can shove the pile, but as far as lining up and directly going through a quarterback’s back like they’re doing (in the NFL) on a QB sneak, we would call a penalty there,” said Darren Hackwood, the CFL’s vice-president of officiating.
Hackwood noted that CFL teams, playing on wider fields with different offensive formations, rarely have anyone behind the quarterback when he’s sneaking the ball or bouncing outside his blockers, so there wouldn’t be many chances to shove him individually across the goal line. But if they did it’s a 10-yard penalty for tandem blocking.
More frequent are the times when CFL running backs get slowed while penetrating the defence, so his teammates start pushing the pile of upright blockers and would-be tacklers to gain a few extra yards. That’s allowed, as long as the ball carrier hasn’t lost his forward momentum.
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“We outlawed it the other way, too, which is interesting,” said Hackwood. “We call it a ‘push block’ because field goal-block teams were lining up behind their defensive-line players and pushing them through the line.
“You had someone almost holding your hips before the snap, with the whole plan to push them through the line. So we said, ‘No. Cut that out!’”
Because of the notoriety surrounding the Tush Push, Hackwood expects it to become a discussion point during upcoming Rules Committee meetings. Although the tandem blocking rule could be changed, it’s not likely. When the committee meets in March, the most likely rule change could be forbidding hip-drop tackles, a rugby-style takedown from behind that’s similar to an illegal horse-collar tackle, except lower.
“We’re very sensitive about player safety,” said Hackwood. “If the statistics show something is dangerous then we definitely take a hard look at it. The (Tush Push) looks dangerous. I’m sure there will be some data points showing if it’s unsafe.
“I don’t think we would ever say that it’s legal. I don’t think we’d go the other way but we might tighten it as far as those stand-up piles and what you can push or what you can do around a pile. Maybe we just emphasize to our officials to call it quicker. But I don’t think we’d go the other way, where we would just openly allow the way it’s being played down south.”
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So how does it work?
With one of the NFL’s best offensive lines in front of him, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts takes a snap with three teammates behind him. They put their hands on his back, thighs, butt, anywhere to push, to help move him forward through a mass of players.
Hurts scored a one-yard touchdown that way during Monday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks, who surprisingly upset the Eagles 20-17. ESPN play-by-play announcer Joe Buck said afterward the Eagles have scored 15 such touchdowns during the last two seasons, the rest of the league only 13 with no other team scoring more than three.
We all know the NFL is about parity, to the point where strong teams play harder schedules in an effort to give every franchise an equal opportunity to win the Super Bowl, or at least finish near .500. The Eagles got too good at pushing tushes. And it might be unsafe.
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