The Philadelphia Eagles have perfected the most controversial play in recent memory, the tush push. The play, in which Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is pushed from behind on a QB sneak, is virtually unstoppable when run by Philadelphia, although other teams haven’t managed to be as successful with it.
Some franchises attempted to get the play banned prior to this season, but didn’t receive the requisite votes to implement a ban. At one point on Thursday night against the New York Giants, Philadelphia ran the play four consecutive times, with the sequence ending in a touchdown.
However, one of the NFL’s most prominent media members was highly critical of the play, and if it continues to receive such a negative portrayal on public-facing television, it probably won’t survive another vote on banning it.
“And then came the tush push portion of the evening,” Mike Greenberg said on Friday, according to Awful Announcing. “On behalf of the National Football League and its fans, I apologize to anyone who had to sit through this.”
“To the amusement of no one,” Greenberg said of the four-play sequence. “They’re jumping early; no one cares. It’s ridiculous, but whatever.”
“Why don’t we just award them a touchdown?” he went on. “You know they award a walk now on four straight pitches, so you don’t have to waste the time sitting through this garbage.”
Fans reacted to Greenberg’s takes on social media.
“Remember the NFC championship game when they threatened Washington with an automatic TD because Luvu jumped the snap 4 times? I don’t think Luvu was out of pocket for that,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Is he still crying about this my god they lost 2 straight I thought the Morans and I mean Morans would give it a rest,” someome else added.
It’ll be interesting to see how much longer the move remains legal in the NFL.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.