Latest news with #MikePereira
NBC Sports
20-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
As NFL obsesses with possible risks of tush push, it has embraced an increase in kickoff returns
The NFL is about to kill the tush push. Regardless of whether it will keep the Eagles from running the most consistently effective quarterback sneak the NFL has ever seen. Everyone knows it's happening because someone decided he doesn't like it. Whether it was the catalyst or the straw that broke the camel's back, the sequence from the NFC Championship seemingly sparked the effort to get rid of it. In the days after the Commanders repeatedly jumped offside at the goal line, prompting a warning from referee Shawn Hochuli that one more violation would result in a touchdown being awarded to Philadelphia, Fox rules analyst and former NFL V.P. of officiating Mike Pereira predicted it — the 'ugliness' of that moment would renew the effort to short-circuit the play. No one will admit that it's going away because of the optics of the play. When pressed for reasoning, the league shifts the goal posts from safety to 'it's not football' to 'pace of play' to whatever else can be fashioned with a semi-straight face. As one league source has explained it, there's a clear irony to the situation. In the absence of data to suggest that the tush push creates an actual safety risk, the league has focused on the possibility that a serious injury could possibly happen. And once the genie of possible liability has exited the bottle, the lawyers will plug the opening. Meanwhile, the league has embraced a change to the kickoff play that will encourage even more returns. Even if the new formation, which eliminates high-speed collisions by cramming most of the players together (except for the kicker, who can and does get blown up, sir), is safer than the old formation, there will be at least 100 more iterations of the kickoff play in 2025. With not a peep about the potential impact on player safety. The pushing of the quarterback doesn't add much to the play. It's a quarterback sneak. And the quarterback sneak will continue, whenever the Eagles get close to a first down or a touchdown. Hopefully, the Eagles will run a quarterback sneak on their first play of the regular-season opener. Every team that votes against the tush-push ban — and every team that wanted to oppose it but got its arm twisted into going along — should do the same. And when the Eagles face the Packers on a Monday night in November, here's hoping the Eagles will run the quarterback sneak repeatedly on the opening drive of the game.
NBC Sports
09-02-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Could Super Bowl LIX be the tush push swan song?
Two years ago, the Eagles took full advantage of a rule change from 2006 allowing runners to be shoved from behind by teammates. After many complaints regarding the ensuing tush push play — which is more rugby than football — the rule remained. This week, Fox's Mike Pereira suggested that the rule could come under fresh scrutiny for a different reason. After Washington repeatedly jumped offside in an attempt to stop it during the NFC Championship, nearly resulting in a touchdown being awarded by the officials to the Eagles, the 'ugliness' of that moment could prompt the powers-that-be to revisit the legality of the tactic. That's a horrible reason for considering a ban on the tush push. It would reward the various teams that can't stop it for trying too aggressively to do so. But if it's possible that the mini-debacle from two weeks ago could be the death of the play, today could be the last time we ever see it. And the Eagles have perfected it. Amazingly, no other team has developed similar proficiency. The play requires strength in the interior offensive line, a quarterback who's able to take the pounding, and players who can provide the well-timed shove to the rear from the rear. The benefits are undeniable. It shortens the line to gain, transforming first and 10 into first and eight or nine. Why wouldn't more teams devote significant resources through the draft and/or free agency to coming up with that kind of orange-stick hack? Whether it should continue to be permitted is for the owners to decide. If they ever dump it, hopefully it won't be prompted by the futile efforts of defenses to come up with a counter.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MePas Diner in Central closing after 13 years of serving the community
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A longtime restaurant in Central is closing its doors for good. MePas Diner, which has served breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 13 years, announced on Facebook that it will close permanently on Sunday, Feb. 9. In a statement, the owners said the decision was made with a 'heavy heart' and thanked the community for its support. 'Our customers have become an integral part of our family, and we will deeply miss serving you,' the post read. 'Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, the business has not generated sufficient revenue to sustain operations.' These are the most romantic restaurants in the US, according to OpenTable The owners invited customers to visit during the diner's final week to say goodbye. According to the City of Central Chamber of Commerce, MePas Diner has been a pillar of the community, offering more than just food. 'If there's one place you eat at this week, make it MePas Diner,' the chamber wrote in a Facebook post. 'MePa's has been more than just a diner the last 13 years—it's been a place to laugh, cry, worship, hold meetings, and watch a Saturday night football game.' The chamber also highlighted the diner's role in supporting the community, including providing meals after the 2016 flood and during the COVID-19 pandemic. MePas Diner is located at 6643 Sullivan Road and will serve its final meal this Sunday. Negro Leagues Baseball Museum space, message expands with $30 million project Fox officiating analyst Mike Pereira dismisses 'myth' of pro-Chiefs favoritism Trump's DOJ drops challenge to gender-affirming care bans but urges Supreme Court to issue decision Subaru unveils Forester Hybrid at Chicago Auto Show Fetterman says he'll vote against RFK Jr., Gabbard nominations Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
07-02-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
FOX Sports' NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira weighs in on ref controversy ahead of Super Bowl LIX
The conspiracy about NFL referees helping the Kansas City Chiefs has been one of the main conversation topics leading up to Super Bowl LIX. FOX Sports rules analyst and former vice president of officiating for the NFL, Mike Pereira, joined "Fox & Friends" on Friday to weigh in on the discussion. "I mean I think I would say what [NFL Commissioner] Roger Goodell said, which I try not to use harsh words. I understand why they think that, because the numbers point that different and the iffy calls seem to have gone the Chiefs way, but to think that there is intent is really ridiculous and that's the term that Roger used," Pereira said. "The officials are out just to manage the game, and they have to make decisions in one 26th of a second, and so they don't have time to factor in who made the foul, what color the team is. And so really, I understand the concern but it really won't affect the way they officiate this weekend." Pereira said the Chiefs were a great team and that they teach penalty prevention to their players. Their number of false starts is less, and penalties of that ilk the team works on eliminating. Pereira talked about how NFL teams will prepare for crews, but it is a little bit different to prepare for the Super Bowl crew. "You know this is different too, because teams do prepare for crews, but this is not a crew, this is an all-star crew. So they've come from seven different crews, so it's kind of impossible to judge where they might lean," Pereira said. Ron Torbert will be the head referee for Super Bowl LIX. He also was the lead referee for Super LVI, when the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals. The umpire is Mike Morton, Max Causey is the down judge, Mark Stewart is the line judge, Mearl Robison is the field judge, Boris Cheek the side judge, Jonah Monroe the back judge and Kevin Brown is the replay official. Cheek is the only other official with Super Bowl experience other than Torbert, as he has officiated in three other Super Bowls. With so many referees in the NFL, Pereira said it was hard to expect exact consistency across all calls. "Look, the parity in terms of number of fouls called this year is closer than I think I've ever seen it before. But you have different, you have 128 people, they don't have the same judgment. So it's hard to teach consistency or to expect consistency all the way through." There is one thing Pereira wants to see from the officials in the big game. "All I care is, you know what, is that they call in the fourth quarter the same way they call the way in the first quarter." With that being said, Pereira said he does not want to talk during the broadcast at all. "I hope you don't hear me, I hope you don't see me! If I don't mumble a word then that mean's there is not a controversy," Pereira said. The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX, where the officiating will be closely monitored. FOX's Super Bowl coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET Sunday. Coverage can be streamed live on Tubi for the first time. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
