Report: Dolphins were among the 10 teams that voted against a tush push ban

The NFL recently voted on whether or not the tush push, an inventive running play popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles, should be banned. A majority vote of 24 out of the league’s 32 teams was needed for the ban to come to fruition, and the tush push was two votes away from being banned.

Only 22 teams voted in favor of the ban, and interestingly, the Miami Dolphins were one of the 10 teams that voted against the ban. Some other notable teams that voted nay on the ban were the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions, both of whom were Super Bowl contenders a season ago.

The tush pan will officially live on after the Green Bay Packers proposed to ban it not long ago. None other than Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was a major advocate for keeping the tush push legal, as he reportedly made a “passionate but fair” speech in favor of keeping it legal during league meetings that were held on Wednesday. Even former Eagles center Jason Kelce spoke for a lengthy period of time while videos of the play were being shown.

Maybe the Dolphins voted against banning the tush push in part because they think they will have opportunities to use the play to their advantage down the line. Signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa is far from the most lethal rusher at the quarterback position in the league, as he’s never averaged more than 10.9 rushing yards per game. So, the Dolphins should be all for any advantage that Tagovailoa can get as a rusher that is within the rules.

Across 11 games played for the Dolphins in the 2024 season, Tagovailoa totaled just 49 rushing yards and five first downs rushing. He also averaged a career-low 1.5 rushing attempts per contest.

With all the success that the Eagles have enjoyed in recent years, and the fact that they’re on the heels of a Super Bowl title, folks should expect plenty of teams to make use of the tush push early and often throughout the 2025 season. Hopefully, Tagovailoa and the Dolphins will see plenty of success with that play if they decide to use it.