Jason Kelce on potential tush-push ban: 'I don't think that's fair'

Jason Kelce certainly doesn't appear to miss being part of the "tush push." But he also doesn't believe football's most controversial play should be banned.

The six-time All-Pro center appeared on "The Steam Room" with Charlies Barkley and Ernie Johnson, and acknowledged that even after a year out of the game, he doesn't miss ending up at the bottom of the pile on the tush push.

“For me, as a center, it sucks,” Kelce said, as noted by Wyatt Grindley of NFL Trade Rumors. “It’s a grueling play where you’re going to get as low as possible . . . if I get grass on my facemask I probably did the play pretty good, because I got as low as possible and drove forward. If you get low and drive forward, it’s really hard for the defense to stop it.”

Kelce didn't deny that the Eagles have benefitted from the play continuing to be legal, even once Cam Jurgens replaced him at center this past season. But he pushed back against the idea of it being outlawed. 

“You know how big an advantage it is, essentially we’re saving ourselves a turnover, whether it’s a punt or whatever," Kelce said. "So it’s such a difference-maker at the end of the day that you’re always willing to do that for your team." 

"Football is a sport that comes down to physicality, aggression, our will versus your will for a yard — I think that sums up football pretty well to me," Kelce added. "It’s a 92 percent chance. Other teams don’t run it at the same success rate. Maybe the Eagles just happen to be really, really good at it. Is it fair to punish a team just because they’re better at it than everyone else? I don’t think that’s fair.”

Kelce's answer echoes what Troy Vincent — the NFL's executive vice president of football operations — said last February to Pro Football Talk: "Don’t punish a team that strategically does it well." 

Granted, Vincent played eight of his 15 NFL seasons with the Eagles. But his point stands out when contrasted with that of Green Bay Packers CEO Mark Murphy, who said that "there is no skill involved" in the tush push. If that was the case, all 32 teams would have mastered the play by now. But the Eagles remain pretty much the only ones who have. 

Is there an argument that the play isn't aesthetically pleasing? Probably. But at least to this point, that hasn't been a compelling enough case to get the play banned.