For a moment, it looked like the Detroit Lions had beaten the Dallas Cowboys 21-20 after Jared Goff completed a two-point conversion pass to left tackle Taylor Decker in Week 17 last season. Then, referee Brad Allen ruled that Decker was ineligible, therefore it was an illegal touch and the play was negated.
Except it was pretty clear, based on video evidence, that Decker had walked over the Allen and wiped the front of his jersey in the universally accepted method to report as eligible. Skipper ran on late to try to confuse the Cowboys (before they were told who was eligible anyway), which the league tried to blame the Lions for (via Pro Football Talk).
"Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFL does not plan to change the procedure for players reporting as eligible. The league views the situation as an effort by the Lions to engage in deception and gamesmanship that backfired."
The loss ultimately cost the Lions the chance to host the NFC Championship Game, since they would have been 13-4 instead of 12-5 and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs had things played out otherwise the way they did. Allen made a mistake, which he never owned and the league went to the lengths they did to protect him.
It's easy to think the procedures for players to report as eligible would be looked at his offseason, and March league meetings started Sunday.
NFL will not review procedure for reporting as an eligible receiver
NFL competition committee chairman Rich McKay, during a recent conference call with reporters including Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, addressed the idea that the procedure to report as an eligible receiver would be looked at this offseason.
"We really didn’t discuss reporting and the procedures for it (at any of our meetings)," McKay said in a conference call. "I think that we know what those procedures are."
We do know what those procedures are, and look like.
In their little tutorial about proper procedure to report as eligible, and trying 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 he was reporting as eligible) and that Allen did not even see Skipper, As FOX's Dean Blandino said at the time, Allen was simply going too fast and made a mistake.
So the process for reporting as eligible won't be looked at this offseason, and as simple as it is the process doesn't really have to be changed. The Lions, and any other team that may find itself in the situation they were in, will just be hoping to have a competent official who takes their time to get it right during a big moment in a game.