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The NFL’s most controversial game has Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan, joining the conversation.
The Eagles’ dreaded tush push, where quarterback Jalen Hurts is pushed over the line for a gain or goal line for a touchdown, has come under fire midway through the 2025 NFL season. The play has been difficult to judge properly amid another strong start for Philadelphia.
There was a vote this past offseason on whether to ban the tush push after the Green Bay Packers submitted a formal proposal. The vote failed, allowing the Eagles — and every other team in the NFL — to make the play this season.
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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) scores on a tush push during the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 3, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field. (Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
There has been talk again that the owners should revisit the vote, but Shapiro loves how the game is working out for his team. He wants it to be.
“Hell no!” he told Puck’s Peter Hamby when asked if the play should be banned. “And by the way, that’s absolute bull — that these other teams that can’t guard Jalen Hurts — that don’t have an offensive line like the Eagles have built under the incredible leadership of Howie Roseman — that now they want to ban it. I mean, it’s ridiculous.
“If they want to be successful, maybe they should go out and draft a great quarterback like Jalen Hurts?”
EAGLES GREAT JASON KELCE SAYS DIFFICULTY OF OFFICIATING TUSH PUSH WOULD “BE A REASON TO CURSE IT”
Hurts, despite winning a Super Bowl last season and earning Super Bowl MVP honors, has often been left out of the elite quarterback conversation, which usually includes Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and others.
Shapiro said he is tired of being disrespected.
“Honestly, I’m also tired of Jalen Hurts not getting the respect he deserves. I think he deserves respect. The Birds deserve respect and moving to ban the tush push is just an excuse for not having a good enough team to do it,” he said.
Eagles legend Jason Kelce, who was instrumental in making the tush push so successful, recently admitted that if the play is difficult to judge, that “would be a reason to ban it.”
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) appears to fumble the ball while running the Tush Push play during the game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles. The game took place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 26, 2025. (Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I know there’s been a lot of noise about false starts and now this game and I get it,” he said on his New heights podcast. “If the tush push is difficult to perform, that would certainly be a reason to ban it.”
Kelce’s comments came after the Eagles’ win over the New York Giants, which featured perhaps the season’s most controversial tush push call. Giants edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux ripped the ball out of Hurts’ hands as he tried to extend his arms for a first down. Hurts was still moving on the play, which looked like a fumble to those watching.
But the officials ruled the play dead in progress, saying Hurts was already over the first-down line for the win. Giants head coach Brian Daboll was furious, and many around the football world weighed in. There was agreement that it should have been called a fumble – and even Kelce agreed.
“It’s a fumble, they missed it,” he said.
At the same time, Kelce defended the play regardless of how it was ruled.
“I know everybody wants to get back on the field. Again, I don’t see how this has anything to do with the tush push. Officials miss progress calls all the time,” he said. “I’m not looking to make excuses; I just don’t know how these little things have to do with pushing tushes. Like, it’s still going to be an issue if the Eagles run a quarterback sneak — that’s my only caveat to that.”
Governor Josh Shapiro speaks at the Celebration of Freedom ceremony during the Wawa Welcome America on July 4, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)
The tush push will remain for the rest of the season, and Eagles fans like Shapiro will love every time Hurts is pushed forward for extra yards.
Whether players, coaches or fans like it or not, the hope is that officials simply call it correctly.
