The survival of the tush push arrived as a surprise.

And it didn’t come without some last-minute and reportedly lurid wrangling from Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie at Wednesday’s NFL owners meetings in Minneapolis.

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Per multiple reports, Lurie held court during a lengthy speech ahead of a vote of owners on a proposal to ban the play that helped propel the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory in February. The pre-vote meeting also featured a plea from Jason Kelce, who was for years the centerpiece of the tush push as Philadelphia’s All-Pro center.

According to ESPN and The Athletic, Lurie spent roughly an hour arguing to fellow owners that the tush push should survive. Per both reports, Lurie took a, ahem, candid approach to making his case.

Lurie told his fellow owners that other teams’ efforts to ban the play that they otherwise overwhelmingly can’t stop was “like a wet dream for a teenage boy.”

That’s one way to put it. And one way to explain why “tempers flared” during the meeting, per ESPN’s account. According to ESPN, Lurie’s “wet dream” analogy drew the ire of NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent, who reportedly chastised Lurie for making the comment in front of women in the room.

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It’s worth noting that Vincent was a proponent of the tush-push ban. And Lurie reportedly criticized him and commissioner Roger Goodell for their support of the ban during the meeting.

Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has a lot to smile about lately. (Kara Durrette/Getty Images) (Kara Durrette via Getty Images)

In his plea, Lurie reportedly shot down arguments that the tush push presents an increased risk of player safety. In fact, he called it “the safest play in the history of the game.”

While that might be an overstatement, there’s no established data to demonstrate that the tush push directly leads to an increased risk of injury — even if the Green Bay Packers made player safety the centerpiece of their proposal to ban it.

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The length of Lurie’s plea grew weary for at least one fellow owner. Per ESPN, San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York asked Lurie “how much more s***” he needed to say as the speech crossed the one-hour mark. But ultimately, Lurie’s speech may have proven worthwhile. Nine other teams joined the Eagles in voting to keep the tush push legal, enough to thwart the proposed ban.

Wednesday was expected to be the death knell for the short-yardage play that frequently results in a first-down or touchdown sneak for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. But the vote to ban it fell two votes short of the 3/4 majority needed to bring its end.

Twenty-two out of 32 NFL teams voted in favor of banning the play, where 24 votes were needed to change the rulebook. And a team that in part just rode the tush push to a Super Bowl championship will push on in the new NFL season. It’s taking a victory lap in the meantime.

The New Orleans Saints brought in former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to be their next head coach this offseason, which means fans can expect to see at least some similarities to the Eagles offense next year.

That really brings one specific play to mind: the tush push. One of the NFL’s most controversial plays ever, Philadelphia has been using it to almost automatically win short-yardage situations for the last few years. Many teams have tried to replicate it, but with little success.

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If there was anyone that would have some insight into how to pull it off, though, it would be the former offensive coordinator. Moore didn’t invent the tush push but he did see it firsthand in Philadelphia.

Before ever getting a chance to run it with the Saints, though, the play almost got banned this offseason. The Green Bay Packers submitted a proposal at the spring meeting that needed 24 votes to pass. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the final vote was 22-10, meaning the play lives on. Moore will be able to bring it to New Orleans, if he so wishes.

It isn’t a 100% given that the coach will have the Saints run it this year, though.

“I don’t know, we’ll see. Obviously, I think other teams have tried to replicate it and have not had success. It’s a huge investment to execute that play at a really high level, and ]the Eagles] put a lot of time and effort into it,” said Moore per Locked On Saints host Ross Jackson.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Kellen Moore can bring Eagles’ signature play to New Orleans after all

The Philadelphia Eagles’ signature “tush push” play lives to frustrate defenses another day, and it may not have happened without the support of the New Orleans Saints. NFL owners gathered for a vote at spring meetings in Minneapolis on Wednesday, needing 24 of the 32 ballots to ban the controversial play.

But they only got 22. The Saints were one of ten teams who voted in favor of keeping the play, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter:

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Philadelphia Eagles

New Orleans Saints

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

So that’s nine teams (and the Eagles) who aren’t scared to compete. If you can’t run the play yourself, practice it until you can. If you can’t stop it, don’t try to litigate it out of the sport because your team isn’t up to the challenge. Clearly the Saints are on the right side of this, which is good to see. If the Saints had voted to ban the tush push, all it would have taken was another one of those nine teams to follow them. Instead, it’ll continue to make a difference in today’s game.

The Saints voting in favor of the play is expected given everyone’s past comments. First-year Saints head coach Kellen Moore has said it takes “a huge investment to execute that play at a really high level” while his old boss and Eagles counterpart Nick Sirianni said that “Moore better vote for it” along with his other assistants-turned-head coaches around the league. Ironically, Moore’s team did cast one of the two ballots to keep the play legal, while neither the Arizona Cardinals (coached by Sirianni’s former defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon) nor the Indianapolis Colts (coached by Shane Steichen, Moore’s predecessor as offensive coordinator) did. Ultimately, Moore and the Saints helped it get across the finish line.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Tush push vote: Saints had key role in saving Eagles’ signature play