THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Should there be a hush to the 'tush push?'

How did the “Tush Push” get legalized in the NFL?

You know, in the first place.

Whatever the logic at the time, why is there NOW such an uproar to get it thrown out of the game?

The shocker is that both questions have the same answer.

Back in 2005, and again two decades later, officials have complained that making correct calls with a mass of humanity slamming together in the space of a phone booth had become impossible.

Where are we now?

Well, league administrators and game officials point to the Eagles — who have made the “Tush Push” something of an art form — jumping the snap count in last week’s game against the Rams.

Looking at slow-mo replays, it became obvious that the Eagles had cheated on the snap twice in a span of four “tushes” (assuming you don’t mind that informal description of what has become the NFL’s most controversial play).

Neither infraction for a false start was called, despite the fact that four officials had a great view of it.

Those non-calls immediately sparked a new debate. Were game officials intentionally whiffing on “Tush Push” plays to make a point?

Are they claiming that 20 or so massive human beings slamming into one another creates a mosh pit that cannot be officiated properly?

HEY, THE game officials know very well that the “Tush Push” came just a few owners’ votes short of being made illegal last fall.

Would they intentionally let the Eagles — masters of the craft — jump a nanosecond early and later claim that the mob of players from both teams, perhaps twitching just a hair, prove that the chaos is impossible to call correctly?

To put it another way, would a few officials help change that vote just a teeny bit, and hopefully be done with the damn “Tush Push” forever?

You don’t want to think that, but I’m sorry.

This is the real world.

Speaking of reality, remember that we were talking about pushing, pulling and shoving around two decades ago — and that the NFL didn't have a major problem with it.

Until.

For decades, NFL rules prohibited offensive players from directly aiding a runner in any way, whether it was pushing or pulling him. But in 2005, the league clarified its stance. There would be no pulling of ball carriers by teammates, but pushing was too difficult to legislate.

“What the league found was so difficult was you never were sure who was pushing who,” said Mike Pereira, the former NFL director of officials who became a TV rules analyst. 

“So you’re not necessarily pushing the runner. You could be pushing someone else that’s in contact with the runner. So it became really too difficult to officiate. Therefore, we just said, ‘OK, it’s legal to push.’ ”

For decades, NFL rules prohibited offensive players from directly aiding a runner in any way, whether it was pushing or pulling him. 

But in 2005, the league clarified its stance. There would be no pulling of ball carriers by teammates, but pushing was too difficult to legislate.

“What the league found was so difficult was you never were sure who was pushing whom,” said Mike Pereira, the former NFL director of officials who became a TV rules analyst. 

“So you’re not necessarily pushing the runner. You could be pushing someone else that’s in contact with the runner. So it became really too difficult to officiate. Therefore, we just said, ‘OK, it’s legal to push.’”

Offensive players believe that plays like the "Tush Push" are really the heart and soul of football.

Coaching legend Vince Lombardi insisted on running the ball once you were inside an opponent's 5-yard line.

"If you can't move them that far," Lombardi said, "you don't deserve to win a football game."

Current quarterback Baker Mayfield buys that entirely, especially when it comes to the "Tush Push."

“There’s a certain thing [about] pushing guys across the edge,” said Mayfield, who would be more of a pushee than pusher. 

“You talk about it after the game and you see the momentum. You see the offensive linemen getting involved and you see the passion in guys and the will, and the want to win."

THE NFL would have you believe that rules decisions have nothing to do with the will to win.

Is a particular judgment good for competition?

Is it safe?

Is it fair to everyone involved?

And as we're discovering with the "Tush Push," can a rule be properly officiated?

You never want to take the league TOTALLY at face value, but most of its reasons for rules are basically valid — and it helps if an outcome adds excitement.

I doubt that the "Tush Push" matters to league gurus, one way or the other — except Philadelphia, obviously.  And even the Eagles someday will have new coaches who don't specialize in the team's signature play.

The bottom line seems to be that — Eagles fans aside — NFL spectators find a quarterback sneak pretty doggone boring.  They love coaches going for it on fourth down, but folks in Row ZZ would just as soon call a play they can actually see.

The fact that we're having all this back-and-forth about a play designed to gain a yard or two perhaps offers a hint — like, feel free to guess that the league may decide that tushes being pushed isn't worth all the hassle.

If there's going to be a loud and sometimes passionate debate about a rule, the NFL's position almost always will tilt in the direction of what its millions of fans care about.

That reasoning suggests that this might be the last season that tushes will be pushed.

Jason Kelce, the longtime Eagles center who is now retired, believes the play that turned Philly offensive linemen into household names (OK, that's a teeny exaggeration) is headed for extinction.

“I think the play is done,” Kelce, a key architect of the play,  said on a Philadelphia radio show. 

“I think that the play was going to be done last year. I think that there’s a lot of people within the league, at multiple levels, that want the play to be gone, which is fine. 

"I think we’ll still go back to running quarterback sneak, and I’m sure they’ll figure out ways to be successful. I’m not really that concerned with it, to be very candid.”

Kelce has a fun take on a lot of things — the podcast he does with his brother, Travis, adds about a million listeners every five minutes (one last exaggeration) so it's no surprise that he wraps up the "Tush Push" debate with a smile.

“I think it’s kind of cool to run a play that they just get rid of for not a lot of really good reasons,” Kelce said.

Kind of cool, indeed. Battling against extinction.

Like having a pet dinosaur.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”