For those of you who are unaware of this piece of football strategy, the "Tush Push" is a quarterback sneak into the center of the line, which of course jams up into an impenetrable knot. BUTT (pun intended) so long as the quarterback or other ball-carrier hasn't gone to his knees, the entire pile/knot of players can be propelled forward by shoving the pile from behind — the afore-mentioned "Tush Push" — to gain the necessary distance to either achieve a reset of downs or a touchdown. Certain members here, such as Gob, Ex-KA, and several others, will of course immediately recognize this tactic as little more than a rugby scrum, albeit without the ball being placed on the ground and a designated player trying to scoop it up once it's been worked clear with the feet.
My question is this. Within recent memory, it was a violation of the rules to physically assist another player to advance the football by pushing or slamming into him from behind. In fact, this picture taken of what is arguable the most famous quarterback sneak in NFL history — legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr (#15), following the block by guard Jerry Kramer (#64) on Dallas Cowboy's tackle Jethro Pugh (#75) and sneaking across the goal line in the final few seconds of the famous "Ice Bowl" game (December 31, 1967) against the Dallas Cowboys — shows fullback Chuck Mercein (#30), who was following Starr on the play (in fact, the play as originally designed was for HIM to have been the ball-carrier!), with his arms upraised.
While some people erroneously assume he was signalling the touchdown, he is actually holding his arms well clear of the play to make it apparent that he is NOT using his hands to push Starr forward and across the goal line — which would have drawn a penalty and negated the play.
My question is WHEN and — more importantly, WHY — was this rule changed?
-"BB"-
