NFL Considers Eliminating Hip-Drop Tackles, Will Review ‘Tush Push’

October 18, 2023 4:37 am

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL is looking to eliminate the hip-drop tackle and will again discuss the “tush push” in the offseason. League executive Jeff Miller said Tuesday the hip-drop tackle increases risk of injury by 25 times the rate of a standard tackle. Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith briefly left a game against the Giants in Week 4 after getting hurt by a hip-drop tackle. The league made the horse-collar tackle illegal several years ago because a defender’s body weight ends up on the legs of the ball carrier, enhancing risk of injury. Rich McKay, the chairman of the NFL’s competition committee, called the hip-drop tackle a “cousin” of the horse collar.