On Sunday afternoon, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Dallas Cowboys on America’s Game of the Week on FOX by a final score of 28-23 on the strength of another strong performance by quarterback Jalen Hurts. Midway through the third quarter on a third-and-1 play, the Eagles, led by center Jason Kelce, utilized their famous “Brotherly Shove” play, essentially a modified version of a quarterback sneak, to secure the first down.
Dallas Cowboys radio announcers Brad Sham and Babe Laufenberg had the foresight to speak about the play before it happened, recognizing the alignment. After the play concluded, Laufenberg gave his thoughts on what had just occurred on the field and weighed in on the debate regarding its legality and place in the game of football.
“Stephen Jones is on the competition committee, right?,” one of the announcers stated. “He’s got to stand up in that room and say, ‘We need to ban this.’…. You’ve got to play Philly twice a year; you’ve got to play Hurts, [and] you might even see them a third time. You get up there and you say, ‘This is not football, right?’”
Jon Jansen, a former NFL offensive tackle and current morning co-host on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit, Mich., preceded the playing of the clip by explaining how the play itself is similar to the traditional quarterback sneak. After listening to the Cowboys radio announcers, he was surprised to hear that they were framing their sentiment towards the play through the lens of imploring ownership to do something live on the air.
“I’d like to hear these dorks’ version of football,” Jansen said on Tuesday’s edition of Stoney and Jansen with Heather. “‘This is not football?’ What’s not football about it? It’s physical; low pad wins; physicality; aggression. All of those things are what define the game of football.”
“Well they admit why they don’t like it because the Eagles are in their division, and Stephen Jones – that’s [Jerry Jones’] son for those of you who don’t know – he’s on the competition committee,” co-host Mike Stone replied, “and he wants them to use his leverage to change the rule because it’s against his team basically.”
Jansen understands that the play is difficult to stop and explained that it has not been successfully replicated with consistency across the rest of the NFL or college football. Moreover, he expressed his disappointment that the broadcasters would incorporate the competition committee into the conversation to change a rule just because the play is harming the Cowboys. In watching the play from afar, Jansen can see that it is obvious that a critical athlete within the action is Eagles center Jason Kelce. As part of the play, Kelce is responsible for snapping the football to quarterback Jalen Hurts so he can sneak it past the first down line.
“First of all, it’s not easy to snap and do what he’s doing on this and make sure that the quarterback gets the ball, but then to be able to get as low and drive the way he does, that’s what really sets this apart,” Jansen said, “and you’re not going to outlaw Jason Kelce, are you?”
Kelce, of course, is the co-host of a podcast with his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, with Wave Sports + Entertainment. New Heights is one of the most popular sports podcasts in the world and has recently seen its popularity boost because of the rumors surrounding a potential relationship between Travis Kelce and award-winning singer/songwriter Taylor Swift.
“No,” Stone said. “You can’t outlaw Jason Kelce; he’s one of the best centers in the league.”
“Yeah, so that’s my point though,” Jansen replied, “is you have one of the best centers in the league doing something that nobody else can do. Okay, that’s why he’s one of the best centers in the league.”
“Yeah, absolutely, and he’s a cult hero too,” Stone added.
