Back at the NFL Annual Meeting in March, Team Owners and League Officials discussed important rule changes that could take place if enough owners agreed to them. Changing the regular season overtime rules to match the postseason rules was approved. The use of electronic technology to determine first down spotting was a big deal as well. Some of the more important proposals, however, were tabled and pushed toward the May meeting to be voted upon.
That May meeting is this week, and subsequent voting took place yesterday and today (May 20th-21st). The big topics that were voted upon are as follows:
- Playoff Seeding based on record, not division winners
- Banning the Brotherly Shove/Tush Push
- Changing the Onside Kick rules under the new Kickoff format
- Allowing NFL Players to participate in the 2028 Olympics, specifically for Flag Football
For any rule change, a 75% majority, or 24 of the 32 NFL Owners, would have to vote in favor of the new rule. Here’s how the voting went for each of the amendments proposed above and the ramifications of each new rule:
Playoff Seeding
The Proposal: From the Detroit Lions, seeding in the playoffs would solely be based upon the team’s records. While winning your division would still get you into the playoffs, it would not guarantee you home-field advantage during Wild Card Weekend. If a wild card team has a better record than a division winner, they would be seeded ahead of the division winner. For example, last season, the Minnesota Vikings would have been able to host a playoff game during the first round of the playoffs.
In addition, a new tiebreaker would be added that would give a division winner the higher seed if a division winner and a wild card team have the same record. This would mean that the Philadelphia Eagles would have been the 2 seed ahead of the Minnesota Vikings last year, despite both teams winning 14 regular season games.
The Verdict: Withdrawn!
The Effects: After not gathering enough (or probably any) support for their idea, the Lions have withdrawn their proposal. This means that for the foreseeable future, the playoff seeding will remain the same: division winners will earn the 1-4 seeds, and seeds 5-7 will be given to teams that earn a wild card spot.
My take on this proposal is that it was very much unnecessary. While some rules naturally have to be changed over time, keeping division games meaningful and important is something that had to be done. There’s a reason why most division games are in the latter half of the season, and Week 18 is comprised solely of division matchups. Winning your division SHOULD be rewarded, and at least for now, fans of division winners can continue to enjoy a home playoff game.
Tush Push
The Proposal: From the Green Bay Packers, teams will no longer be allowed to perform the Tush Push. Specifically, the rule change states that no teammate can “push or pull a runner in any direction at any time or lift him to his feet.” This would not only apply to quarterback sneaks, but to all running plays, meaning that teammates can only assist a ball-carrier by blocking for him. This rule change submission is an altered version of the submission the Packers presented in March.
The Verdict: Failed!
The Effects: In order for the Tush Push ban to have taken effect, there needed to be 24 votes in favor. Unfortunately, the proposal only received 22 votes. This means that, at least for the 2025 season, the Tush Push is here to stay. Since the vote was so close, expect this proposal to be brought back in next year’s offseason meetings.
From an ethical standpoint, I think a lot of fans are of the opinion that the play shouldn’t be banned unless there is conclusive data that supports it is a health and safety risk for the players. Personally, I would like to see the play banned, not because my team (Carolina) can’t run that specific play, but because I think it’s purely just boring. There isn’t anything entertaining about watching all eleven players line up and push the pocket and quarterback forward. Let the quarterback make the play himself.
Onside Kicks
The Proposal: Allowing a team to declare an onside kick attempt at any point in a game, as long as the declaring team is trailing. Currently, an onside kick attempt can only be declared by a trailing team during the fourth quarter. This rule change proposal also states that players on the kicking team, except for the kicker, can line up on the 35-yard line instead of the 34-yard line, moving them one yard closer and hopefully increasing the odds of a successful onside kick.
The Verdict: Passed!
The Effects: With this change, teams are more incentivized and capable of attempting onside kicks. After the format of the kickoff changed last season, onside kicks were rare to see, and even rarer to see converted. Now that teams are able to attempt onside kicks more often, hopefully, we will see an increase in the 6% of successful onside kick attempts from last season.
I think this is a welcome rule change. With the new kickoff format, and only allowing trailing teams to declare an onside kick in the fourth quarter, there was hardly any hope of a successful attempt. The excitement of a surprise onside kick will still be a thing of the past, but now we can expect more attempts, and hopefully see the kicking team win some attempts during close games.
Olympic Hopefuls
The Proposal: Allow one player from each NFL team to participate in the 2028 Olympics, specifically for flag football.
The Verdict: Passed!
The Effects: With this rule change passed, now one player from each team can participate in the 2028 Olympics Flag Football event. There will be certain injury protections worked into the contracts of the players selected for the flag football team. The NFL has requested that flag football teams have certain standards for medical staff and field surfaces on fields where an NFL player will participate on.
Vikings’ star WR Justin Jefferson has already indicated that he would love to represent the United States as part of the U.S. Olympic Flag Football Team in 2028. Personally, I would love to see lots of star players from around the league take part in this event, which will be held in Los Angeles. Hopefully we get a Dream Team of NFL superstars for this event.
