Your inbox approves 🥇 On sale now 🥇 🏈's best, via 📧 Chasing Gold 🥇
DETROIT LIONS
Detroit Lions

Daily Sports Smile: Detroit Lions win is 'cherry on top' for veteran making his first start

Dan Skipper has exhibited the heart of a lion in his six-year NFL career.

After signing more than 20 contracts and bouncing around various practice squads, the Colorado native received his first start for the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Head coach Dan Campbell called him up to play guard, a position he hadn't played since his college days at the University of Arkansas.

Skipper helped the Lions to a 36-27 victory over the Washington Commanders and received an ovation from his teammates after the game.

"Hey, Skip, nice freaking job," Campbell said in a video posted to the team's Twitter account as the squad chanted "Skip, Skip, Skip." The lineman stood smiling with his hands on his hips while he took in the adulation.

Cut from the team during preseason in a moment capture on HBO's "Hard Knocks" series, Skipper was signed to the practice squad. He received his first NFL start due to several injuries on the offensive line.

All things Lions: Latest Detroit Lions news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

"Dan’s been here for two years now, since we've been here," said Campbell, whose first season with the Lions was the 2021 campaign. "He knows our offense in-and-out, he knows all the positions. And look, this isn’t the easiest offense to just walk right in and learn.

"We just felt like Skip, man, has a real good understanding of it. And we felt like even though he’s never played guard in a game, we just feel like he was going to hold up, you know. We trust him, I trust him."

Skipper played alongside Evan Brown at center and right guard Logan Stenberg as the Lions played with a brand new interior. The group helped Detroit rack up 191 yards on the ground and propelled wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown to a record-breaking day.

"The way they got in there and did what needed to be done, I'm proud of them," running back D'Andre Swift said. "We only go as far as the O-line takes us."

After the game, Skipper was the first player at the Lions podium for post-game interviews.

"We’re all the next ones up," he said. "We’re not the chosen ones, so to speak, but at the end of the day, we go out there and get a win, and that’s all that matters."

For Skipper, the day was much more than a win on the field.

"It's been such a long road," he said. "Six teams, I've been cut all over. Just having my wife and kids here and everything else, it really comes full circle. It's hard to explain. It kinda makes everything all worth it. All the chaos, just the trails, playing, it's kinda the cherry on top."

Featured Weekly Ad