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Donald Trump is a big fan of the Tush Push, not kickoffs
Donald Trump is a big fan of the Tush Push, not kickoffs
The Eagles yesterday took part in the yearly tradition of visiting the White House after winning the 2025 Super Bowl. While some players made headlines for not attending the ceremony, current United States President Donald Trump has also made headlines for some of his comments regarding the NFL.
Perhaps most important was his glaring endorsement of the Eagles’ infamous ‘Tush Push’ play. A play that’s been under a lot of criticism lately, with talks of banning it existing within league meetings early this year. The topic was ultimately tabled, much to the delight of Donald Trump.
Clearly, President Trump is a big fan of the tush push, cool, I guess. Now, as you may have heard in the video, Donald Trump did have some criticisms he wanted to toss at the NFL, specifically with the new kickoff rules.
He doesn’t seem to like the idea that players stand still while the ball is in the air. I’ll admit it was a little weird seeing it at first. But over time, I, like many of you most likely, just stopped noticing it altogether.
The truth is, the NFL has been grappling with the issue of kickoffs for some time now because they are trying to walk an almost impossible line. How can they increase returns without increasing injuries?
Player safety is supposed to be the primary priority of the NFL, but it was boring to see players take a knee or watch the ball fly over their heads every single time. Kickoff returns have the potential to be the most exciting play in football. We just never got the chance to see them.
On the other hand, kickoffs are easily the most dangerous play and lead to a countless number of injuries. So the NFL couldn’t lean too far into having guys want to return a kickoff every time. So what they have in place right now seems like a pretty decent blend of the two options.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t done a deep dive into the data, but from what I saw as a fan, it seemed like we saw more returns this year, without the same high number of injuries that typically come with that. So, unfortunately for President Trump, I don’t think he will be getting his wishes regarding the regular kickoff.
As previously mentioned, several Eagles players chose not to attend the White House–most notably Jalen Hurts, who’s made his opinions of the current administration rather clear.
I’m not here to get into all that. What I will say is that I’m glad to see the drama didn’t make it into the ceremony itself, and the players who did attend got to enjoy the moment.
As an Eagles fan myself, I don’t care about who went and who didn’t. With this administration, we knew it was going to be a media frenzy no matter what, and once Saquon Barkley was seen golfing with Trump, the floodgates opened.
The meeting, however, is over, and hopefully, everyone can return to focusing on the 2025-2026 season. A season that, as of now, will include President Trump’s favorite play, so yay for that, I guess.
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