‘Tush Push savior’ Jason Kelce defended Eagles’ signature play moments before NFL owners voted

Jason Kelce helped perfect the Tush Push as the Eagles center before retiring last year. He also might have helped save his former team’s signature play, as a vote by NFL owners fell short Wednesday on a proposal that would have banned the modified quarterback sneak.

Kelce traveled to Minnesota to give one final defense of the play at the league meetings ahead of the vote, which reportedly finished two shy of passing the ban.

“There were some things said at the last owners meetings,” Kelce said on the latest episode New Heights, before his trip to the NFL‘s spring meetings. “Some of the owners and coaches hinted that the reason I stopped playing was because of the Tush Push, and that I got hurt on the Tush Push. I’m just going to answer any questions people have about my partaking in this play.”

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Tush Push survives as an NFL owners vote that would have banned it falls short

At the previous owners meetings, Bills owner Terry Pegula reportedly joked that Kelce retired because of the wear and tear from the play, and Packers president Mark Murphy, who presented the proposal, referenced an interview in which Kelce talked about how “dangerous” the play was to run as part of the argument to ban it.

Kelce wanted to set the record straight to the owners that he was being misinterpreted.

“I’ll tell you this right now: I’ll come out of retirement today if you tell me all I’ve got to do is run 80 Tush Pushes to play in the NFL. I’ll do that gladly. It’ll be the easiest job in the world.”

Ultimately, it seems like Kelce’s speech on the safety of the play, which followed a 30-minute speech from owner Jeffrey Lurie, made an impact, according to some observers. Earlier in the day — and in the lead-up to the vote — all signs pointed to the ban being passed. But news came out late Wednesday morning that the proposed ban had received 22 of the 24 necessary votes.

» READ MORE: Long live the Tush Push: Most memorable moments from the Eagles' signature play

Some couldn’t help but thank Kelce.

While Kelce wanted to come in to defend the play on its merits, he said ultimately the Eagles and Jalen Hurts would have been fine even if it did get banned.

“I don’t care if it gets banned or not,” Kelce said. “I think that at the end of the day, this is why you vote on things. If they vote to ban the Tush Push, the Eagles are still going to run quarterback sneak at a very high percentage.”

Thanks at least in part to Kelce’s speech before the owners, it looks like fans won’t have to worry about how the loss of the Tush Push would impact the team’s offense — at least for now.