In Week 17 of the season, it appeared like the Detroit Lions had defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21-20 when Jared Goff delivered a two-point conversion ball to left tackle Taylor Decker. Then, referee Brad Allen concluded that Decker was ineligible, so it was an unlawful contact and the play was nullified.
Except that, according to video footage, Decker walked over the Allen and wiped the front of his jersey, which is the generally acknowledged manner for reporting eligibility. Skipper raced late to confuse the Cowboys (before they knew who was eligible), which the league attempted to blame on the Lions (via Pro Football Talk).
“According to a person familiar with the matter, the NFL has no plans to change the protocol for players reporting as eligible. The league sees the issue as the Lions’ attempt at trickery and gamesmanship, which failed.
The loss ultimately robbed the Lions the opportunity to host the NFC Championship Game, as they would have finished 13-4 rather than 12-5 and received the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs if things had gone otherwise. Allen committed a mistake that he never acknowledged, and the league went to great measures to protect him.
It’s easy to believe that the procedures for players to report as eligible would be looked at during his offseason, and March league meetings began.
NFL will not review procedure for reporting as an eligible receiver
During a recent conference call with reporters, including Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, NFL competition committee chairman Rich McKay discussed the possibility of reviewing the method for reporting as an eligible receiver this summer.
“We really didn’t discuss reporting and the procedures for it (at any of our meetings),” McKay stated on a conference call. “I think that we know what those procedures are.”
We know what those processes are and what they look like.
In their little tutorial on proper procedure for reporting as eligible, and attempting to blame the Lions for the situation against the Cowboys, the league showed Decker doing what he was supposed to do (wiping his chest and standing right in front of Allen, presumably to tell him he was reporting as eligible), and that Allen did not even see Skipper. As FOX’s Dean Blandino stated at the time, Allen was simply going too fast and made a mistake.
