No one knows the Eagles’ tush push quite like Jason Kelce. The future Hall of Fame center was a central figure in the controversial play’s recent success and rise to prominence.
The tush push is once again a topic of conversation after the Eagles ran it successfully several times in their 20-17 win against the Chiefs — and video surfaced of Eagles offensive linemen false starting on Jalen Hurts’ decisive fourth-quarter touchdown sneak.
Amid outrage around the tush push, which was nearly banned this offseason, Kelce defended the play on “New Heights,” his podcast with brother and Chiefs star Travis Kelce.
“People love to point out the false start thing,” Kelce said. “It’s very difficult. When you see these things in real time, I think people don’t realize how (it’s) a fraction of a second we’re talking about here. … There’s been alleging that this is an on purpose thing that guys are going offsides. As an offensive line, it’s imperative that you get off on the snap. You’re doing the best you can to get off on it before the defender gets off on it. … .Sometimes you’re a little bit early.”
Kelce has become accustomed to defending the tush push. At the NFL spring meetings, during which a proposal to ban the play was voted on, Kelce showed up at Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie’s request to explain why the play isn’t inherently dangerous.
That proposal to ban the tush push, submitted by the Green Bay Packers, needed 24 votes from NFL franchises to pass. The final tally was 22-10, and the tush push stayed.
But after Sunday’s game against the Chiefs, Kelce did issue a warning to the Eagles regarding the play that has become a sure thing in short-yardage situations.
“They’re going to be under the microscope moving forward. Everybody is going to be looking at this because of what happened,” Kelce said. “They’re saying they’re in the neutral zone. They’re saying they’re false starting because they slow it down to 1,000 frames per second. … They need to be very, very cautious because the calls are going to be starting to come.
“And they should be.”
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