Dan Skipper catch draws loud ovation a week after ref gaffe cost Detroit Lions vs. Cowboys
A week after he was on the wrong end of an officiating blunder on a tackle-eligible 2-point conversion, Detroit Lions offensive lineman Dan Skipper got the loudest of ovations of any player in Sunday's 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Skipper officially reported as eligible seven times Sunday and was serenaded by loud cheers every time referee Brad Rogers announced, "No. 70 is an eligible receiver."
The swing tackle even caught a 4-yard pass on the Lions' third quarter touchdown drive.
"Oh, I thought it was great, man," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "Everybody loves Skip, right? That he reported, he was loud. I thought he was very clear on what he did and he got a ball out in the flat, thought he tucked it away ran up the sideline, so it was great."
Skipper was announced as the eligible receiver by referee Brad Allen on a disputed 2-point pass in last week's 20-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Left tackle Taylor Decker was supposed to be the eligible receiver on the play, but Allen mistakenly told Cowboys players Skipper was eligible after the big tackle ran in from the Lions sideline and made a hand gesture to signal the Lions' jumbo two tight end formation as he came onto the field.
The Lions had Decker, Skipper and right tackle Penei Sewell head in Allen's direction as they shuffled personnel on the field in an attempt to confuse the Cowboys. Decker swiped at the numbers on his jersey and said he verbally reported as eligible to Allen, who insisted in a pool report that Skipper was the one who checked in as eligible on the play.
The NFL sent a memo to teams last week intimating Skipper was in the wrong, though coaches and teammates defended him at every turn and fans bought billboards across metro Detroit declaring, "Decker reported."
Decker said Rogers "was a good sport about" the reporting gaffe Sunday, joking, "There’s no more guys, right?" on plays that Skipper reported.
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"Let me say this," Campbell said. "Brad Rogers, head official here, he worked our camp this year, he’s done a great job and he was great. I thought he handled everything really well, because that’s not easy to come in after what happened in Dallas and you’re going to be the guy in our game and he’s a pro. He has been and he was great with communication, so anyway everything was great. But yeah, I thought it was for the crowd to get up for Skip, that was good."
Skipper also was an eligible receiver on Sam LaPorta's 2-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, a play that looked similar to the Lions' 2-point play last week.
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On Goff's pass to Skipper, Campbell insisted "actually we didn’t put that in for the crowd."
The Lions only had two tight ends active Sunday, LaPorta and James Mitchell, plus practice squad fullback Jason Cabinda, and LaPorta left with a knee injury late in the first half. Regular No. 2 tight end Brock Wright did not play Sunday because of a hip injury.
"We knew we were going to need him and it could possibly go there, and it went to him," Campbell said.
Free Press sports writer Carlos Monarrez contributed to this report.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' Dan Skipper catches pass a week after costly ref gaffe
