Brotherly shove: The Scot at the heart of NFL's most divisive play

The 'brotherly shove' is successfully carried out by the Eagles against San Francisco

It is the NFL play that has divided America - and a Scot knows the secret of its success.

The so-called "brotherly shove" has helped push the Philadelphia Eagles to the best record in American football.

Former Scottish rugby player Richie Gray spent part of the summer working with Eagles coaches to refine the technique.

However the play has now proved so successful that some pundits believe the league should ban it.

Gray's coaching journey has been varied, including stints with the Scottish rugby team, South Africa's Springboks, the NFL's Miami Dolphins franchise and his current role with French rugby giants Toulon.

Yet few of the Galashiels native's previous roles have generated as much debate as his involvement with the brotherly shove.

Richie Gray has coached for Scotland, South Africa and Toulon

The play is used by the Eagles in short yardage situations, when the offensive unit need one or two yards to either score a touchdown or secure a new set of downs to keep themselves in possession of the ball.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts takes the ball and goes forward, pushed by team-mates.

The tactic has been a regular weapon for the Eagles since Hurts joined the team, with an extremely high success rate.

It is a variant on the long-standing quarterback sneak play, which many teams have used in the sport's history when needing only a small gain.

Eagles coaches were seeking to further improve it, which is when Gray became involved.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime with John Beattie, he said: "In the summer I got a call from Ted Rath (Philadelphia Eagles vice president of player performance) asking me to mainly work with the defensive group, discussing tackle technique and things like that.

"All of a sudden Jeff Stoutland, who is a legendary offensive line coach in the NFL, gave me a call.

"He said 'when you're here we'd like you to come in for a day with us and look at this play. I want you to come in, we'll rip it to bits, have a look at it and you give me your opinion on how you'd break it or make it better'.

"We spent a morning with all the offence coaches which is literally about 30 guys, going over this play millimetre by millimetre, broke it down and built it back up."

Jalen Hurts has led the Eagles to 10 wins this season

Gray cites "competitive advantage" as to why he cannot reveal exactly how he helped to refine the move.

His contribution to the play would have remained hidden if not for star offensive lineman Jason Kelce, the brother of Kanas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce - an athlete now as famous for dating Taylor Swift as for his sporting prowess.

The Kelce brothers mentioned Gray on their New Heights podcast, where they identified him only as "this Scottish guy" who had helped the Eagles refine their play.

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Soon Gray's phone was "going off the hook" with friends and colleagues wanting to know if he was the man mentioned, a situation he described as "crazy."

The reason for the attention lies in the play's sheer success rate, which has helped the Eagles to an NFL best 10 wins and two defeats so far this season.

Some NFL pundits have called the move "undefendable", and according to weekend reports in America, the league's commissioner Roger Goodell is considering a vote among franchises on whether to ban the play for the 2024 season.

Gray is firm in his belief the tactic should be allowed to continue.

Jason Kelce of the Eagles mentioned Gray on his podcast

He said: "Nick Sirianni, who's the head coach of the Eagles, said 'anyone can do this'. It's not illegal, it's just the Eagles do it better than anyone else.

"Against Washington two or three weeks ago they set up for the sneak and then ran another play off it, so it became a phenomenal decoy. It's a real head-scrambler for defensive co-ordinators."

Any vote on the future of the brotherly shove would take place in the league's offseason.

By that time Philadelphia fans might be celebrating a second Superbowl for their team, aided by the man from Galashiels.

Gray added: "I'm incredibly lucky, and surrounded by some brilliant people. I love what I do, and that's the key. You've got to be passionate about what you do."