Steelers' Mike Tomlin wary of eliminating Tush Push from NFL game

PALM BEACH, Fla. — As a member of the NFL competition committee, Mike Tomlin is involved in determining the fate of the controversial Tush Push play. The Green Bay Packers submitted a proposal banning the play, which has been used to great success by the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills.

NFL owners will announce Tuesday whether to keep the play, which is one of five rules change proposals they will hear this week at the annual league meetings.

Tomlin said Monday that when he first saw the Tush Push executed, he was surprised at its legitimacy considering the NFL outlawed that type of leverage from teams trying to block field goals and extra points.

“That being said, you hate to be against it because when people are innovative, you want to respect that,” Tomlin said at the AFC coaches breakfast. “There have been some teams that have been more innovative in that regard, and you hate to penalize them for it.”

Tomlin is a proponent of doing what is best for the NFL in terms of player safety. He said the injury findings so far have been incomplete.

“There’s not a big enough sample size to point to statistics,” he said. “I and everyone else are just listening to the perspective of the medical experts, as opposed to statistics. … A lot of other plays, we’ve got a much larger volume to choose from. There are 40,000 plays a year in football, and I think it was 170 or so ‘Tush Pushes,’ to put that in perspective.”

Tomlin is against the Detroit Lions’ bylaws proposal to seed teams based on their overall record regardless of whether a wild-card team has more wins than a division champion.

“I’m a division purist,” he said. “I love the rivalries that is division play. I love the structure of our scheduling, the highlights. … I think the division winner should get a home playoff game.”