Posted on 10/26/2025 10:26:54 PM PDT by Red Badger
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That's the problem.
teammates pushing the player with the ball is not football.
It very much is, from the earliest days of the sport. It is no different from the quarterback sneak, except for the pushers.
We’re talking about modern football here. One offensive player pushing another forward is not football. It’s not difficult. They just need to play football.
Considering that American Football (just Football) grew out of soccer and rugby, it's more just a rediscovery of its roots in the latter.
Rubgy was always more of a man's sport anyway.
Another factor has been the false starts that are not being called. It appears that there is such a quick pile of bodies that it’s difficult for the refs to see the ball, or discern when the ball is snapped. False Starts are not a challengeable call, apparently, not are they reviewed by replay officials.
But the pushing now happens on all kinds of plays, not just the Philly short yardage move. The Offense gathers around behind the ball carrier and shoves, the Defense gathers around across from them and push back... yesterday there were quite a few plays (not just in the Philly game) where there were offensive gains of 5 - 10 yards because of the “scrum”.
The ref teams (reportedly) are watching the false starts and lining up across the line into the neutral zone (both sides) much more carefully.
Yes ... I am an Eagles fan, so I like the “Shove”. But I also think you don’t decide a specific aspect of “pushing” is deemed illegal because one (unpopular/bad rep) team developed it (to play to their QB’s strength) and performs it well.
Who couldn’t help but notice the massive popularity of rugby in the US these days? I rarely watch the NFL much these days. but I find it hilarious how protective Eagles fans are of this play. Once its banned everybody will foget about it.
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