Dan Skipper embraces cult hero status: 'I have to be the most popular scrub'

ALLEN PARK -- Dan Skipper went undrafted. He’s been cut more than two dozen times. When he made the Detroit Lions roster coming out of training camp, it was the first time in his NFL career that made a Week 1 roster.

This is Year 8.

“It’s tough,” Skipper once said. “You go in, and you’re never quite good enough. You’re not quite enough. You show up every day, and you think you’re doing the right things, and just for whatever reason, it just doesn’t quite work out. I think I’ve had 20 NFL contracts? They’re not worth the paper they’re written on.”

Guys like that usually occupy the anonymous shadows of the NFL. Guys at that position -- swing offensive tackle -- especially so. Go ahead. Name another in the league right now. I’ll wait.

Didn’t think so.

Yet these days, Skipper can’t even go to a Tigers game without overshadowing an All-Pro tight end.

“I was at the Tigers game the other day, and it was intense,” Skipper said. “There was a lot. Like I sitting there with Sam and people are like, ‘SKIP!’ I’m like, ‘Guys, this is Sam LaPorta.’

Welcome to the strange times of Dan Skipper, an undrafted offensive tackle who spent years fighting for his football life everywhere from Dallas to Detroit, Denver, New England, Houston, back to Detroit, Las Vegas, back to Detroit again, Indianapolis, then back to Detroit once more -- and now finds himself as something of a cult hero in the Motor City because of a twisted turn of events in Dallas last season.

Not that anyone needs a reminder heading into the Lions’ trip back to Dallas on Sunday afternoon.

“I feel like I have to be the most popular scrub, if you will,” Skipper said.

Skipper found himself in the eye of a national storm following a Week 17 game in Dallas last year. After scoring a touchdown to pull within one point of the Cowboys with 27 seconds left, head coach Dan Campbell decided he wasn’t about to play for overtime. He left the offense on the field for a 2-point play that won’t be forgotten in Detroit anytime soon.

Left tackle Taylor Decker caught a pass from Jared Goff to give Detroit the lead, but the officials threw a flag for illegal touching. Turns out referee Brad Allen saw Skipper run onto the field and interpreted his hand signals for the offense as reporting as an eligible receiver. He announced Skipper as the eligible receiver, but no one on the field could hear it because of the crowd noise.

Decker, meanwhile, had walked right up to Allen to wipe his numbers, the universal sign for reporting eligibility. Then he caught what appeared to be the go-ahead pass, but was ultimately flagged for illegal touching because of the blown call. Detroit failed to convert the 2-point play, lost the game, plus lost a shot at the No. 1 seed.

“I really don’t have a lot of positive words,” Skipper said back then. “I appreciate the shot across the bow (from the league).”

While Skipper was scapegoated by the league for an officiating error, he’s become something of a cult hero back in Detroit. He returned to Ford Field the following week and received a standing ovation when he checked into the game -- as an eligible receiver, of course.

Nearly a calendar year later, Skipper still receives loud ovations whenever he checks in as an eligible receiver -- so loud, it can be difficult for him to hear the play call.

“Oh yeah, I hear it,” Skipper said. “It’s cool and it’s fun. It is hard to hear the play call. It’s funny, until you miss the play call. Someone is asking, ‘What do we got?’ We’re still on offense. We appreciate it, it’s fun, but yeah, we got to chill a little out on that.”

If you look closely enough at Ford Field, you’re bound to see some No. 70 Skipper jerseys in the stands these days. He even receives a lot of attention when he’s around the city too, and not just at Tigers games either.

“My wife’s like, ‘Oh, it’s so cool’ -- until we’re at dinner and someone comes up asking for a picture and she’s like, ‘That’s not cool,” Skipper said. “My parents are kind of the same. Everyone is kind of the same. It’s cool until it’s not. Then it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s what actual famous guys deal with all the time.’”

Offensive linemen aren’t usually famous, and especially sixth offensive linemen. But it’s somehow fitting that in a city that is known for grit, and for a team that is known for its offensive line play, an underdog like Dan Skipper has not only finally found an NFL home, but a spotlight too.

Skipper had no interest in revisiting the fiasco in Dallas this week, instead keeping his focus on the game to come and ending a long losing streak there.

“It’s all been fun,” Skipper said. “Sometimes (expletive) things lead to good things, and that’s just a part of life. But yeah, that’s just how it goes. Worried about this year’s Dallas Cowboys game and what we need to do to win that game.”

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