"There's no statistics to back that": Eagles icon Jason Kelce fires back against tush push ban proposal

Jason Kelce has spoken out against the proposal to ban the tush push. There was recently an attempt to get the play banned after a proposal from the Green Bay Packers ahead of this week's NFL owner meetings in Florida.

Some argued that the play was unsafe, increasing the likelihood of injury, which is why some support banning the play. On his podcast, "New Heights," Kelce explained that there's no basis to that argument, and it's not rooted in fact.

"I get it. I get why certain teams want to ban it for competitive reasons," he said. "I get why some people think that it's potentially unsafe. I think optically it looks unsafe. It's football man.

For me, personally, I never felt like there's that much more of a risk of injuring somebody on the play. And I don't think there's any statistics to back that up. So anybody saying that it's gonna lead to more injuries is pure conjecture, not rooted in fact."

Kelce was part of the Eagles' 2017 team, which won the Super Bowl. He was also part of the team in the 2022 season that made it to the Super Bowl, but ultimately lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. Kelce played center for Philadelphia for 12 years and was often at the forefront of the tush push.

Tush push ban discussion tabled until May

NFL: Super Bowl LIX-Kansas City Chiefs at Philadelphia Eagles - Source: Imagn

The tush push ban was initially expected to be voted on during the NFL owner meetings in Florida this week. However, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that the proposal to the NFL's competition committee has been tabled. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer's report says the conversation will be picked up again in May. CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones reported that 16 teams currently support the ban.

NFL Commissioner Rodger Goodell noted that although the league is aware of injury concerns around the play, there is no concrete data to support those claims.

"I think there are safety issues being considered with the tush push," Goodell said. "We have very little data, but we see the potential risk. It makes a lot of sense to go back to the old rule prohibiting pulling or pushing ball carriers."

The Green Bay Packers initially submitted the proposal to ban the play, which would make it illegal for "an offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap."