The end of Saturday night’s game between the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys was marred with controversy after a successful go-ahead two-point conversion was nullified by an illegal touching penalty on offensive lineman Taylor Decker, even though he appeared to report as eligible to the referee before the play. It was a pretty clear and egregious error from the referees that left them with very few defenders, but ESPN officiating expert John Parry was one of them.
During an interview with Scott Van Pelt after the game, Parry boldly declared that the player was to blame for the miscommunication, even though Decker intentionally approached referee Brad Allen to report as eligible.
“Absolutely. It is on the player,” Parry continued. “It’s a unique play. It’s a gadget play. You want to make sure that the referee definitely knows what position you’re playing.”
John Parry joined @notthefakeSVP to explain the situation around the Lions’ two-point conversion that was called back due to penalty against the Cowboys. pic.twitter.com/HWhAfETFdK
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) December 31, 2023
Van Pelt sounded largely unconvinced, and Parry went on with an explanation about how he thinks Decker should have been “much stronger” in his attempts to get Allen’s attention.
“We would want the player to get to him much stronger than he does in this case,” Parry said. “Brad is not looking at No. 68 – he’s looking at No. 70. [Decker] also owns a little bit of this in recognizing ‘Hey’ Brad Allen’s not looking at me. I need to make sure Brad knows.”
Van Pelt pushed back on this.
“I get it, but you don’t want to be doing jumping jacks and jumping around saying ‘I’m eligible,’ because then you’re drawing attention to the fact. You know what I’m saying?” Van Pelt said. “I can certainly identify with the anger on the Detroit side.”
And Van Pelt was not the only one who seemed perplexed by Parry’s defense of the officials as the ESPN officiating expert was quickly blasted for his comments.
John Parry on ESPN is an embarrassment. Shameless protection of the officials. What a joke.
— Ben Leber (@nacholeber) December 31, 2023
This explanation from John Parry makes the refs sound even worse & is insane. He’s saying even though Decker reported to the ref it’s Decker’s fault that the ref didn’t recognize or hear him. SVP rightfully pushed back on Parry but Parry is defending ref for missing it. Unreal
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) December 31, 2023
John Parry on #SVP, “It’s on the player”.. miss me with that fella. The referee (Brad Allen) has to know that 68 would never normally come over to him like that unless he was reporting. I get taking up for your guy, but he just went through the motions and assumed only 70 was…
— Jacob Hester (@JacobHester18) December 31, 2023
Get John Parry the hell out of here. The ref literally looks at and nods to Decker talking to him. Still calls it as 70 reporting. The play doesn’t work when you have to make it obvious to the ref and the defense that you’re the one reporting. Decker did his part, the ref didn’t.
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) December 31, 2023
Good job by Scott Van Pelt not letting Parry get away with that asinine explanation btw.
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) December 31, 2023
The Cowboys went on to win the game by a score of 20-19.
