The Philadelphia Eagles have found success with the "Tush Push," a play they have been using since Week 1 of last season. However, center Jason Kelce is not actually a huge fan of the controversial play because it doesn't feel great being stuck in the middle of it.
"Man, all the weight and everything lying up on top of you," Kelce said in an interview with NBC's Devin McCourty. "And you've got to wait for everybody else to get up before you can get up. It's a grueling play, for sure. And, you know, if you do it right, you're at the bottom. ... If, if you're not at the bottom, it usually didn't go well."
The Eagles first ran the play last season against the Detroit Lions on fourth-and-1 for a first down that helped them pull off a 38-35 win. It was a creative play that worked for them, so the team kept coming back to it. The Eagles used the play 41 times in short-yardage situations during 2022, and 37 of those attempts were successful.
While Kelce wants his team to win, it's no secret that the tush push is a debated topic in the NFL. Even seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, now retired, warned Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurt that the play could be dangerous because it could lead to him taking a lot of shots.
"So yeah, it's effective for a one-yard gain but it might be ineffective someday when someone hits a right shoulder of the quarterback because they know it's coming," Brady said on the podcast "Let's Go! with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray" earlier this month. "So you may have some short-term gain, you may have some long-term pain."
