Nice try , Green Bay Packers. Last week, the push for the Brotherly Shove to be outlawed from NFL games did not pass a vote for the 2025–2026 season by NFL owners. No pun intended.
This means that your Philadelphia Eagles will once again be tush-pushing-brotherly-
In 1989 at Veteran’s Stadium , Buddy Ryan’s Eagles had a 10–9 advantage with just seconds left in the contest. Randall Cunningham had given Philadelphia the lead in the fourth quarter thanks to a missed extra point by Minnesota Vikings kicker Rich Karlis after Herschel Walker’s opening 93-yard kickoff return. In order to prevent a long kickoff or a blocked punt , Eagles Head Coach Buddy Ryan used the Philadelphia “Polish Punt Team” an illegal 14-player formation at the end of the game to help to secure the win. Ryan would end up being fined $3,500 for the formation and Phillies would advance to the playoffs that year.
And of course , who can ever forget the amazing sequence in Super Bowl LII which helped Philadelphia top the New England Patriots — the Philly Special. The glorified half-back pass to Eagles quarterback Nick Foles to put Philadelphia up 22–12 right before halftime. The Eagles had inserted the play one week before during the preparation for the NFC Championship Game. Ironically , the Bears had run the play the year before with Alshon Jeffrey (now on the Eagles) and former Philadelphia Draft pick Matt Barkley. Former NFL referee Mike Pereira said that the play was an illegal formation.
It looks like opposing teams will need to find another way to beat Philadelphia besides contesting the legality of their playbook for the 2025–2026 season. After all , it’t not Philadelphia’s playbook that is the best in the NFL. It’s the Eagles who are. Period.
Michael Thomas Leibrandt is a member of the Old York Road and Wissahickon Historical Societies and lives and works in Abington Township.
