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Mike Reiss
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Mike Reiss
ESPN Staff Writer
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Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN, primarily focusing on the New England Patriots. Since starting this role in 1997, he became part of ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was recognized as Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
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Kevin Seifert
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Kevin Seifert
ESPN Staff Writer
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Kevin Seifert has been a staff writer at ESPN covering the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL since 2008. With over 20 years of NFL reporting experience, he previously worked for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia.
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INDIANAPOLIS — On Sunday, NFL competition committee co-chair Rich McKay stated he does not expect there to be an initiative to ban the tush push this year, following last year’s intense discussion about the short-yardage play.
“I haven’t seen any team proposal regarding it,” McKay mentioned after a day of meetings at the NFL combine. “So, I wouldn’t anticipate it. But you never can tell.”
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, as of September, there were no guarantees about revisiting the tush push discussion in 2026, with sources citing the bitterness of last year’s conversations and the failure to achieve sufficient support for a change.
The play has primarily been executed by two teams: the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills. Statistically, the NFL saw a slight increase in tush pushes in 2025 (112) compared to 2024 (101). The Eagles (27) and Bills (17) dominated the league in attempts, though other teams started experimenting with ways to utilize tight ends instead of quarterbacks for the snap—most notably, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks. yet, the conversion rate fell slightly in 2025, as teams achieved a first down on 76.8% of attempts versus 82% from 2022 to 2024.
even with some subjective safety concerns regarding the play, the NFL has yet to release any health data to substantiate those worries.
The debate over the tush push in 2025 was intense. The Green Bay Packers aimed directly at the play in February 2025, presenting a proposal with notably specific language to ban it. Their proposal sought to prohibit offensive players from immediately pushing a teammate who was directly behind the snapper and receiving the snap.
NFL regulations require approval from 24 team owners for rule modifications, but only 16 were in favor of the ban as initially proposed. Discussions were postponed during the March owners’ meeting, yet the Packers revised their proposal to more broadly forbid players from pushing any ball carriers, regardless of their field position, essentially reestablishing a rule that had existed until 2005.
This revision was unsuccessful by a mere two votes during the league’s May 2025 meeting.
In other updates, McKay also stated:
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He does not foresee a “big year” for proposed rule changes, asserting that “the game is in a pretty good place.”
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There has been some dialogue about possibly altering playoff seeding processes, but no formal proposals have surfaced yet.
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The committee engaged in extensive discussions regarding the NFL’s catch rule. Following a number of contentious rulings in 2025—especially concerning the timing criteria for completed catches—McKay remarked: “Our current technology allows for frame-by-frame review; while this is fantastic for many situations, it creates challenges in others. We must ensure that our written rules align not only with on-field action but also with how they are interpreted during replays.”
