If you’ve been keeping up with the NFL for the last couple of seasons, then you’ve probably heard about the highly controversial play, the “tush push.”
The Philadelphia Eagles were one of the first to popularize the play, also dubbed “The Brotherly Shove,” where they put a tight end or a lineman in the backfield on each side of the quarterback when they only need a yard or two to get a first down or score a touchdown.
Once the ball is snapped, the two guys lined up in backfield push quarterback Jalen Hurts forward, and it’s almost impossible to keep Hurts from gaining a first down or scoring a touchdown. Although it’s nearly impossible to stop, the play is completely legal, and now teams across the country on all levels of football are starting to normalize the play.
Other teams are trying it, but nobody is pulling it off like the Eagles are. Peyton Manning broke it down a few weeks back during Monday Night Football:
It’s a legal play, and it works just about every single time if properly executed. But notice how I said “just about.” The formula may have been perfectly constructed to stop this play, and no, it did not happen on the NFL or college levels. It went down on the high school level.
Video footage is going viral of linebacker Ethan Stapleton out of Lumberton High School in Texas. During the Raiders’ game against Vidor High School, Vidor had a play on the goal line, where they attempted the sure fire tush push.
However, Stapleton perfectly timed the snap, completely leaped over the offensive line and tackled the quarterback, basically as soon as the ball was snapped and before the player in the backfield even had a chance to push the QB into the end zone.
It was a huge play in the game as well, as Lumberton went on to win in a 54-28 shootout.
NFL teams, take notes:
In the WWE, the move is actually called a sunset flip:
