National Football League

Lions, Taylor Decker poke fun at controversial call vs. Cowboys on social media

Updated Jan. 7, 2024 3:42 p.m. ET

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Like NFL players across the country, Lions offensive lineman Taylor Decker showed up to work Sunday for Week 18 of the 2023 NFL season. And like NFL teams across the country, Detroit's social media team posted a video of Decker's arrival.

But the Lions' caption for that post quickly caught fire on the internet, and for good reason.

"Reporting for duty" is a reference to when Decker caught a would-be 2-point conversion at the end of the Lions' Dec. 30 game against the Dallas Cowboys. However, that play was negated because the officiating crew claimed Decker had not reported as an eligible receiver, and that fellow offensive lineman Dan Skipper had instead. 

The Lions' two ensuing 2-point tries failed, and the Cowboys won 20-19, in a game with major ramifications for playoff seeding in the NFC.

Decker and head coach Dan Campbell later insisted they did everything right, and Decker had indeed walked over to the refereeing crew before the play to report as eligible. Video from the game appeared to show Decker, Skipper and another offensive lineman walk over to a referee to report as eligible (all three going together in order to confuse the Cowboys) — but only Decker actually lean in and speak to the official.

Campbell also said earlier this week he had drawn up the play before the game to explain to the officiating crew what the Lions might do, how it would work, and how it was legal.

But now, it appears the sting of the loss has worn off enough for Decker himself to have a little fun with the incident:

The Lions responded to Decker's tweet by claiming to post the "correct" video of him — a video of Skipper.

Even Campbell and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson appeared to get in on the fun, calling another designed trick play against the Vikings on Sunday — this one successfully completed to its intended target, Skipper.

Detroit is still celebrating its first division title in 30 years and will play a home game at Ford Field against a to-be-determined opponent in the wild-card round next week.

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Detroit Lions

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NFL - Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions - 01/07/2024