In 2023, the Philadelphia Eagles are perhaps best known for the “tush push” or “brotherly shove,” as it’s called in Philadelphia. The play is a devastatingly effective version of a quarterback sneak in which players line up and push quarterback Jalen Hurts who burrows over All-Pro Center
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The play’s origins actually lie with Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor and general, of all people. Though Bonaparte died decades before the invention of football, his war strategy influenced the design of a play eerily similar to what the Eagles are doing on the field today. Its history offers clues about the future of the “brotherly shove.”
The play that the Eagles use in fourth and short situations resembles a formation called the “flying wedge,” which universities ran in the 1890s. The “flying wedge” concentrated players in a narrow formation that allowed them to more effectively break through the resistance of the defense.
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Identifying the man who developed the flying wedge isn’t straightforward. Some accounts credit Harvard University football coach
But one thing is consistent in both accounts: the inspiration for the play originated with the study of military history, specifically Bonaparte’s strategy at the Battle of Austerlitz where the French emperor defeated Austria and Russia in 1805.
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Deland fancied himself an amateur military historian and his
Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games was reportedly present when Deland’s team first ran the flying wedge. In his 1898 article “Napoleon et le football,” Coubertin wrote that the general watched the play’s debut from heaven and it “warmed his warrior spirit.” So pleased was the spirit of Bonaparte, Coubertin asserted, that he prayed “Saint Peter would, when the day came, allow Mr. Deland, his prophet, to enter heaven straight away.”
A 1926
This description of Lewis’ “creation” of the play indicates that the confusion over the roots of the flying wedge may have a simple answer. Deland invented the play, and a few years later, Lewis came up with a defense to thwart Penn’s version of it, rather than inventing the wedge itself. If so, then Napoleon’s military strategy influenced both the creation of the formation, and the development of a defense that aimed to stop it.
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Those in charge of setting the game’s rules quickly decided that the flying wedge was too dangerous for players. To lessen the potential for injury, the Rules Committee, an informal group dominated by Yale’s Walter Camp, the father of football, and perhaps not un-coincidentally the coach of Harvard’s arch rival,
It seems the Eagles know nothing about this history despite the similarity between their Brotherly Shove and the flying wedge. Philadelphia Inquirer beat writer Olivia Reiner
Yet, the play has many similarities to the flying wedge. And history might be repeating itself.
Football players are more heavily armored than they were in 1905, but Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes
It seems possible that we’re headed for an echo of the 1890s. Those who are upset about the effectiveness of the play may again use safety concerns about the dangers of pushing players, or giant piles to justify banning it.
Understanding this history casts objections to the Brotherly Shove in a new light. It also may teach the Eagles about the unlikely French military origins of their favorite play.
Russ Crawford is a professor of history at Ohio Northern University and a football historian. He has published three books: The Use of Sports to Promote the American Way of Life During the Cold War: Cultural Propaganda, 1945-1963 (2008), Le Football: The History of American Football in France (2016), and Women’s American Football: Breaking Barriers On and Off the Field (2022). Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians.