Beloved Lions OL Dan Skipper announces retirement from NFL

DETROIT — Beloved Detroit Lions offensive lineman Dan Skipper announced his NFL retirement Thursday through his Instagram account.

Skipper went from an undrafted journeyman lineman to a cult hero in Detroit as a sixth lineman, even scoring a 9-yard touchdown reception in 2024 against the Buffalo Bills. He joined Taylor Decker and Scott Conover as the only offensive linemen in Lions history to produce a touchdown reception.

A coaching career could be on the horizon, Skipper said in his post.

“24 years of putting on pads and a helmet every fall. This year I’ll trade that out to pursue a career on the other side in coaching,” Skipper wrote on Instagram. “The memories and experiences that the NFL has brought me and my family are hard to put into words. Thankful for every person that has been apart of my journey.

“It’s time for me to ‘report’ as retired. (Sorry I had to do it one last time!)”

A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday that Skipper is volunteering as an offensive line coach for this year’s East-West Shrine Bowl. Skipper will be working with the East team.

The 31-year-old logged nine seasons in the NFL after being signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2017. In addition to his practice squad stint in Dallas, he appeared in games with the Lions and Houston Texans.

Skipper had acknowledged that he was considering retirement due to back issues following Detroit’s 19-16 win over Chicago in the regular-season finale, as he shed tears during his postgame media availability with reporters.

The fans in Detroit would cheer for Skipper every time he reported as eligible as the Lions’ sixth offensive lineman for their jumbo package during home games at Ford Field after a controversial loss in Dallas on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023, that would become known as the “Dan Skipper game.”

In a tight battle versus the Cowboys, officials ruled that Decker, the Lions’ starting left tackle, didn’t report as an eligible receiver while Skipper did and a potential game-winning 2-point conversion catch by Decker was negated.

Skipper told ESPN that he’ll go to his grave swearing the Lions did everything they were supposed to do at that moment, but he was forever thankful for the fans.

“It just goes to show that when you roll with Detroit, there’s no place better to be. It’s one of those really special places that has been beaten down and thought of as a certain way, but you get here and it’s not like that,” Skipper told ESPN in December. “I think when people come, they’re always just so shocked that it is what it is. That’s the people, that’s the things that this place has done, and it’s changed so much. At this point, people talk s— and I’m like, ‘Show up’ and they see it’s a sweet place. This team, we try to embody what this city’s about.”