The Philadelphia Eagles have earned a reputation as the NFL’s best at running the ‘tush push’ (aka the Brotherly Shove), a variation of the quarterback sneak that has been nearly impossible for teams to stop in critical short-yardage situations. On Monday Night Football last night, the Eagles took on the Green Bay Packers in their first meeting since the NFL voted against a proposal that the Packers initiated last spring to ban the tush push.  

Ahead of the game, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning decided to take a deeper dive into the polarizing play with the help of former Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro center Jason Kelce and the Temple University football team.  

In the Peyton’s Places episode “Sneak Attack,” which premiered Sunday, Nov. 9, on ESPN+, Manning traveled to Philadelphia to explore the history of the quarterback sneak and, in a Freaky Friday-style switch, experience the tush push from Kelce’s perspective. 

On a rainy May morning, Temple’s football team headed to Lincoln Financial Field for a 7 a.m. call time to film the episode. Since the rain delayed filming, cameras followed Manning and Kelce indoors to study film and talk through the tush push.  

Manning explained on the episode that the quarterback sneak has been around for a long time, but until the Brotherly Shove, many teams did not run the play, despite it always being statistically the NFL’s most effective play, with a success rate of 70–90%. Kelce added that he always felt it was a highly underutilized play, saying the percentage of getting first downs and the lead is very high.  

So, why is the play so controversial? Temple defensive linemen Sekou Kromah and Allan Haye, who participated in filming the episode, spoke on the play’s controversy.  

“The power of an entire offense pushing the quarterback forward is just so consistent. Others may see it as a problem when a team does it repeatedly in a single drive to score,” said Haye. “But I try to look at both sides, so maybe they can limit the times you can run the play, but I don’t know if it should be banned.”   

“There are also video replays of when offensive linemen may jump early during the play where the referees can’t even see it in real time to call a [false start] penalty,” added Kromah. “So, it can be hard to officiate.”  

After the weather cleared up, Manning, with the help of Kelce and Temple players, took to the field at the Linc to reenact the tush push. In a playful twist, Manning and Kelce traded places and jerseys with each other. Manning became the center and Kelce stepped in at quarterback to run the play himself. On camera, they traded humorous, playful jabs in the huddle before running the play.  

Haye and Kromah described Kelce’s personality on-camera as genuine and authentic, qualities that made him a fan favorite among Eagles fans. 

“On the set, Kelce was very much himself and authentic, like when he was acting out his lines, at times he would start making jokes with Peyton,” said Haye. “He [Kelce] was very welcoming to the entire team and invited us in to talk with us after we were done shooting.” 

“He seemed like a fun person to be around with good energy,” added Kromah. “It was great to experience that with a lot of our teammates.”

Temple football’s appearance on Peyton’s Places episode “Sneak Attack” is now available exclusively on ESPN+. The series is a production of Omaha Productions and NFL Films. (Photo courtesy of NFL Films) 

Jackson Pruitt, starting right guard on Temple, shared what he heard from Manning and Kelce say about the key factors that make the Eagles’ tush push nearly unstoppable.  

“Peyton Manning and Jason Kelce are two guys I really looked up to and watched growing up. I was a bit star-struck,” said Pruitt. “I could hear them talk about how it’s more about the second-momentum push than the initial push. Kelce said it’s about staying low and close, and that he used to close his eyes and just push forward. 

“We run our own version of the play at Temple, so it was an honor to be a part of this episode with two NFL greats and learn from them about the proper way of how the Eagles run the play,” Pruitt added. 

The stuntmen in the scenes donned the uniform numbers of Owl football legends Muhammad Wilkerson, Joe Klecko, John Rienstra and Bill Singletary, all of whom went on to play in the NFL. Haye acknowledged that he did not mind switching places with the stuntmen, since they were the ones taking most of the hits. 

“The stuntmen were definitely doing more banging during the scenes,” Haye laughed. “There were all these different camera views set up, so we couldn't line up the same as in a real-life game situation, but it was still very similar, which still looked real. It was cool to see and a fun experience.”