How (and why) the Eagles pushed back, plus the story of Colts owner Jim Irsay

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Inside: The tush push lives! We’ll explain how the controversial play barely survived a league vote, plus a tribute to Colts owner Jim Irsay, who died Wednesday, before sharing two notes from OTAs.

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How (and why) the Eagles saved the tush push

The Packers failed to stop the Eagles tush push during their January playoff game. League meetings were no different.

Yesterday afternoon, The Athletic learned that Green Bay’s proposed ban failed to garner the 24 votes (75 percent of owners) needed for a rule change. Margins were slim. It’s notable that 22 owners — a healthy majority of the league — approved the ban. The NFL’s competition and health and safety committees both voted unanimously to ban the play.

The Eagles pushed back. Executive leadership hit the phones. Jason Kelce was invited to testify. Owner Jeffrey Lurie made an emotional, passionate plea to his fellow owners. I don’t blame them:

I didn’t realize how important Hurts’ 91 percent success rate was until I noticed Philly’s struggles when handing the ball off. Since 2021, when the Eagles allow a running back to rush in these situations, their success rate drops to 68.9% — only five teams were worse.

I may not enjoy watching the Eagles execute the play, but I do appreciate the precision at which they operate it. It’s boring because it works. Thankfully, it lives on, for now. Hopefully, someone learns to stop it.

Dianna has the inside story of how the Eagles pushed back. Over to her:

What Dianna’s Hearing: How Philly did it

Wednesday morning’s “Competition and Health & Safety” session was Lurie’s chance to make a final impression — and he spent the better part of an hour making it.

He began by emphasizing the need to clean up the process around the play rather than the play itself, pointing to the fact that no data supports the idea that it’s inherently more dangerous than any other play on the field.

“It’s the safest play in the history of the game,” he told the room. “Whoever votes to ban this play is taking liability for putting risk on our quarterbacks.”

Kelce was up next. He argued why the play should remain in the game, telling the room: “If I could run 60 tush pushes a game, I’d come back.”

As for why the Packers made the proposal, high-ranking front-office sources from four teams felt Green Bay was used by the league because of their lack of a principal owner. With the Packers’ name on the proposal, other teams — and their owners — could throw their support behind it without a single owner being targeted by those who opposed it.

In the end, it lives on. Much to the chagrin of the league. I’ve got the full story for you here, and my colleague Michael Silver explains why a ban would’ve been a bad look.

Back to you, Jacob.

Rest in peace Jim Irsay, a rare NFL character

Yesterday evening, the Colts announced owner Jim Irsay passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 65.

Irsay was a rare NFL character, as Zak Keefer’s tribute to the longtime Colts owner explains. Just 13 when his father Robert, a heating and air-conditioning mogul, acquired the then-Baltimore Colts, the younger Irsay spent his formative years working his way through the league ranks.

I doubt any current NFL owner began their career clearing locker rooms for $5 a week. His subsequent climb — Irsay was named general manager of the Colts at age 24, a position he held for ten years —  was boosted by nepotism, yes, but accompanied by an obvious passion for football.

Being the son of an NFL owner has privileges, but life was rarely easy for Irsay. His father was a heavy drinker, prone to locker room tirades that made coaches quit and once led players to encourage a teammate to “Hit him!” (him being Robert). That day, a 16-year-old Jim fought back tears while apologizing to the team for his father’s actions. “(It was a) tremendous thing for a teenager to do,” a coach later said.

Jim wasn’t spared from the White Tornado, as his father was known. Fired “more times than I can count,” Jim took an opposite approach to his father’s management style, which was captured in Zak’s story on how Jim learned from his father’s sins:

(Robert Irsay) was perhaps the most oppressive owner in league history — vicious and vindictive, tight-fisted and tyrannical. He routinely made life miserable for those he employed.

He’d call down to the sideline during games, more than a few drinks in, because he wanted certain plays called and certain players benched. Sometimes he’d do it from the sideline, shouting at his head coach from a few feet away.

That chaotic ownership style (literally) drove the Colts out of Baltimore and into Indianapolis. When Jim inherited ownership in 1997, his family legacy was that of an absentee owner who spent 25 years amassing a 40.7 winning percentage and two playoff victories.

Jim Irsay changed things

Realizing he needed an experienced executive in charge, Irsay traded a third-round pick for Bill Polian. With Irsay’s blessing, Polian drafted Peyton Manning in 1998 and hired Tony Dungy in 2002. Wins followed, most notably in Super XLI, where the Colts defeated the Bears to hoist their only trophy of any Irsay era.

Jim’s 28-year tenure as principal owner ends with that Lombardi, plus a positive record for the Colts. They won 54.9 percent of their regular-season matchups and 13 playoff games with Jim as owner. Still, Irsay’s legacy remains controversial:

• His life was marked by a constant — and often public — battle with substance addiction, including alcohol and opioids.

• He worked tirelessly to support mental health issues across the country, donated millions to addiction treatment centers and helped form the Colts’ initiative to change the mental health narrative in Indiana.

• He was once arrested for possession of a controlled substance and driving under the influence. When speaking about the incident years later, Irsay remarked that “I am prejudiced against because I’m a rich, white billionaire.” When pressed, he refused to apologize.

As Mike Silver explains in his tribute, there was no one in pro football like Irsay. Going forward, Colts ownership is expected to be shared amongst his three daughters. But for today, Indianapolis mourns their icon.

Extra Points: OTA notes

OTAs are kicking off across the league and The Athletic’s beat reporters are there watching. You should know:

Jets WR Garrett Wilson could have a big fantasy football season, as he was targeted on half of Justin Fields’ passes. It’s a familiar pairing, as the two played together at Ohio State. Yet things aren’t so positive for Fields, as Zack Rosenblatt explains.

Bears HC Ben Johnson‘s reputation as a fiery perfectionist got him to Chicago, where the players seem to appreciate it. “Being in meetings with him you can just tell the intent, the intention, the attention to detail, very high standard, which is awesome,” said guard Joe Thuney. As Cole Kmet learned, players must meet that standard.

Cleveland’s four-man quarterback competition should be heating up. But as Shedeur Sanders explained to FanDuel TV’s Kay Adams, “Everybody’s cool. Outside the room, people try to pit us against each other, but inside the room, we know we’re one.” Jayna Bardahl shares the latest there, where Deshaun Watson is still in team meetings. Five-man QB competition? Unlikely.

Before we go: The NFL will allow one player from each team to try out for each country’s 2028 Olympic flag football team. Six countries, including the U.S., will participate. Tashan Reed built his dream team.

Who would you choose to represent the U.S.? My esteemed colleague and writer of “The Pulse” newsletter, Chris Branch wants to know. Pick your defense here.

We’ll push that to Monday. See you then.

This week’s most-clicked: The definitive ranking of all 32 schedule release videos.

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(Photo: Mitchell Leff, Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

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