The Brad Allen saga continues into the new year, and it’s not headed in a direction that many Detroit Lions fans will like. Allen, the referee who mistakenly announced Dan Skipper as an eligible receiver instead of Taylor Decker on the critical 2-pt. conversion late in Detroit’s loss in Dallas in Week 17, has the protection of the NFL shield.
In a report propagated by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the NFL is effectively covering up for Allen and pointing the finger at the Lions for the referee’s mistake:
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.
While there might be some inherent deception built into the play, that doesn’t excuse Allen for his lazy, irresponsible error. He failed to do his job properly, period. If he’s that vulnerable to legally permitted deception, deliberate or not, he shouldn’t ever be allowed to blow a whistle again.
Technically, the report shows the NFL is correct on one front. The league does not need to change the procedure for players reporting as eligible. The Lions did that part to the letter of the law. Allen simply screwed it up on his own.
The fact the league defends him is a frustrating acknowledgment that the NFL doesn’t really want to fix its officiating issue. Failing to hold officials accountable for their own egregious mistakes is a slippery slope that keeps getting slicker and steeper for the NFL. The downhill momentum furthered willingly in the Allen case just might snowball into something much worse for the league.