“John Parry On ESPN Is An Embarrassment” Former NFL Referee John Parry Faces Backlash For Defending Officials In Controversial Lions Vs. Cowboys Game

“John Parry On ESPN Is An Embarrassment” Former NFL Referee John Parry Faces Backlash For Defending Officials In Controversial Lions Vs. Cowboys Game

Controversy marred the end of the Detroit Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys game as an illegal touching penalty nullified a successful go-ahead two-point conversion.

Offensive lineman Taylor Decker, who appeared to report as eligible to the referee before the play, was penalized in what many deemed a clear and egregious error by the referees.

ESPN officiating expert John Parry, however, took a different stance during an interview with Scott Van Pelt after the game.

Parry boldly shifted the blame to the player, asserting, “Absolutely. It is on the player.” Despite Decker intentionally approaching referee Brad Allen to report as eligible, Parry characterized it as a miscommunication.

Parry continued, emphasizing the uniqueness of the play and stating, “You want to make sure that the referee definitely knows what position you’re playing.”

He argued that Decker should have been “much stronger” in getting Allen”s attention and suggested that Decker “owns a little bit of this” for not recognizing that the referee was not focused on him.

“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.”

“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.”

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