Lions OL Dan Skipper weighing retirement: 'This might be the last one'
CHICAGO – No. 70 may have reported eligible for the last time.
Detroit Lions offensive tackle Dan Skipper said he may retire for medical reasons after Sunday's season-ending win over the Chicago Bears .
"This might be the last one," Skipper said as he choked back tears in the locker room at Soldier Field after the game. "Comes a time with all of us that we're done. I got some medical stuff that might push me out, so, it's tough."
A cult hero in Detroit cheered every time his number is called as an eligible receiver when he enters the game, Skipper has been playing through a lower back injury all season.
He said he has "some doctor's appointments" scheduled this week to get new imaging on his back, and the results of those tests could determine his future.
"You start getting some pretty intense surgeries that, I'm old, tall, so we'll see what happens," he said.
Skipper is one of three Lions offensive linemen considering retirement along with left tackle Taylor Decker and center Graham Glasgow . And while Decker and Glasgow are long-time starters and former 2016 draft picks, Skipper's fame is largely tied to his role as sixth lineman and the blue-collar path he took to make it in the NFL.
An undrafted rookie who originally signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2017, Skipper has played with the Lions for at least part of eight of his nine NFL seasons. He spent much of the early part of his career on NFL practice squads, and also had stints with the New England Patriots , Denver Broncos , Houston Texans , Las Vegas Raiders and Indianapolis Colts .
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In 2023, Skipper was a central figure in the Lions' controversial late-season loss to the Dallas Cowboys , when the Lions converted what appeared to be the go-ahead 2-point conversion on a tackle-eligible pass to Decker. The play was nullified by penalty when referee Brad Allen mistakenly said Skipper reported as the eligible receiver on the play.
The Lions lost the game after two more failed 2-point tries, but Skipper's profile blossomed as a result.
In five seasons with the Lions under coach Dan Campbell, Skipper has made 16 starts, primarily as a sixth lineman, and has played as a fill-in at both tackle spots for Decker and Penei Sewell .
"I’ll never forget when I was in Dallas, one of the pro scouts was like, 'Man, you got a chance to play 10 years,' and I didn’t even see it at that point," Skipper said. "So, finding a way to stick around and stick in and finding a home, and guys that appreciate you, a place to take you in and go and it’s just, yeah, I mean, (Detroit is) a special place. It’ll always hold a place in our heart. We had a kid born here and my boys know the damn fight song."
Skipper played just one snap Sunday on the first play of the second quarter; he also reported as eligible a second time for a fourth-and-1 play that ended with a Bears encroachment penalty.
He credited Lions physical therapist Jensyn Roskelly for helping him get through the season, and said if Sunday's game was his last in the NFL it will be "a special memory" in a "bittersweet" year.
"You just give it everything you got each week and some weeks are all right and some weeks you can’t [bleeping] move," he said. "It just felt like as it went on, I started not being able to move. And it’s frustrating and it's hard and I feel like stuff that you have been able to do for a long time, you can’t anymore. It sucks. But it’s just part of the aging process of being here and being hurt and everything else. But yeah, it’s sure definitely special for a lot of reasons but I owe a lot to the training staff and all that."
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky , X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions OL Dan Skipper weighing retirement: 'This might be the last one'
