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EAGAN, Minn. (AP) 鈥� Facing stiff resistance around the聽, the tush push managed to move the chains and gain a fresh set of downs.

League owners narrowly failed to pass a proposal to prohibit the polarizing short-yardage strategy at their spring meetings聽聽on Wednesday, keeping the rulebook as is 鈥� and pleasing the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

The ban on offensive players from pushing, pulling, lifting, grasping or encircling a runner was supported by a 22-10 vote, according to a person with knowledge of the proceedings, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the details weren't made public. That's two votes short of the three-quarters majority required by league bylaws to pass it.

The health and safety committees for both the players and the owners and the league's competition committee all unanimously recommended the proposal, which was formally brought forward by the Green Bay Packers at the previous league meetings in Florida聽聽and tabled for further discussion. Such a ban previously existed and was lifted 20 years ago because it was deemed too difficult to consistently enforce.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 set a low bar,鈥� said Atlanta Falcons chief executive officer Rich McKay, the chairman of the competition committee. 鈥淭here was a lot of support for it, a lot of discussion about it. I've been in that room numerous times where we've had these types of discussions, where one team ends up being, in their mind, more impacted than others. It still takes 24 votes, and in this case those votes were not there.鈥�

The Eagles brought former center Jason Kelce, one of the players who fueled the success of the tush push, to the meetings to provide a first-hand account of the play that assigns a teammate to push the backside of the quarterback for extra power behind a tight nine-man line. Blockers on the end sometimes pivot to try to pull the ball carrier past the marker, too.

Immediately after the vote, the Eagles posted a picture聽聽of quarterback Jalen Hurts on the verge of a short-yardage attempt against the Packers with the caption, 鈥淧ush on.鈥� Then they posted to their聽聽a 26-minute tush push highlight montage.

Kelce, a seven-time Pro Bowl pick who retired after the 2023 season, said recently he wasn鈥檛 as concerned about a ban of the tush push as he was about clearing up misconceptions it poses an injury risk and was partially responsible for his decision to end his career.

鈥淚鈥檒l come out of retirement today if you tell me all I鈥檝e got to do is run 80 tush pushes to play in the NFL,鈥� Kelce said on the聽聽with his brother Travis Kelce. 鈥淚鈥檒l do that gladly. It鈥檒l be the easiest job in the world.鈥�

Kelce declined comment as he departed the meetings at the Omni Viking Lakes Hotel next to Vikings team headquarters, where Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie led an impassioned defense of the maneuver his team聽聽with the coinciding arrival of Hurts in 2020. The NFL has no conclusive data supporting a connection between the tush push and an increased risk of injury, as Lurie has noted. He said he was pleased by the vote result by declined further comment.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said with a laugh in a brief interview with reporters he had to make sure he was voting against the play and not just against the rival Eagles, emphasizing his belief that the debate was good for the game regardless of the outcome of the vote.

Buccaneers All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs, speaking from an event in Tampa, Florida, said he was against a ban out of respect for the Eagles and their success with it.

"If it was a cheat code, then everyone would do it," Wirfs said, "but not everybody can.鈥�

Commissioner Roger Goodell said he didn't take a stance and was instead simply focusing on fostering a 鈥渇ull discussion鈥� of the issue of aiding quarterbacks in their plunges into the line.

The competition committee three years ago raised concern about the pushing and pulling of ball carriers further down the field, McKay said, and will emphasize again the importance of officials declaring dead a play that develops into a scrum even if the mass of bodies prevents them from seeing if the runner is down.

鈥淏low the whistle,鈥� McKay said.

Division winners can stay home for now

The Detroit Lions withdrew their proposal to reseed teams for the playoffs 鈥� in order of record rather than awarding the first four spots to division winners 鈥� before a vote was taken.

Like the tush push ban, this is an issue that could well come up again in the near future, particularly if an 18-game regular-season schedule is implemented. Goodell said there was no discussion of the additional game, which players have vehemently opposed, during the meetings this week.

One step closer to recovering an onside kick

In light of the drastic kickoff changes before last season that聽聽this year with some further alterations, owners approved Wednesday a tweak to the onside kick.

With the goal of increasing the recovery rate, teams may now try them at any point in the game when trailing rather than just in the fourth quarter. Kicking team players, other than the kicker, can also move 1 yard forward to give them a better chance at the ball.

Leadership diversity program rework is underway

The NFL took some heat for聽聽the latest edition of the accelerator program designed to increase diversity in the coaching ranks, but Goodell said he wasn't concerned about the perception that the pause might have been for political reasons.

The program will return at the spring meetings next year while league officials examine ways to make it more effective and efficient, Goodell said, including the potential for increased interaction between coaching prospects and general managers.