By Otis Kirk

FAYETTEVILLE — Former Razorback Dan Skipper is in his third stint with the Detroit Lions and on Sunday he earned a lot of love from Coach Dan Campbell.

The Lions were able to rush 24 times for 191 yards behind Skipper, Frank Ragnow and the offensive line. All Lions on FanNation had a very telling quote from Skipper following the 36-27 victory over the Washington Commanders Sunday.

“Hey man, I mean my sixth year in the League. I’ve never made a team. It’s tough, you go in, and you’re never quite good enough. You’re not quite enough. You show up every day, and you think you’re doing the right things, and just for whatever reason, it just doesn’t quite work out,” Skipper said postgame. 

Skipper was a four-year starter on the offensive line at Arkansas. He was recruited out of Arvada (Col.) Ralston County High School by Sam Pittman. He started eight games at offensive guard as a true freshman in 2013 and then started the next three years. He made All-SEC at offensive tackle in 2016. He was second-team All-SEC in 2015 also at tackle. Pittman talked about Skipper on Monday.

“Well, I love Dan Skipper,” Pittman said. “Him and about everybody I’ve ever coached. Danny called me last week, and I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing. I don’t think he will. But he called me last week and said he was going to get his first start. He’s six years in, been cut, down to the practice squad, and he said, ‘I’m going to get my first start.’ He was very complimentary of me, like I had one thing to do with that, which I did not. He did all that.

Skipper was a four-year starter on the offensive line at Arkansas. He was recruited out of Arvada (Col.) Ralston County High School by Sam Pittman. He started eight games at offensive guard as a true freshman in 2013 and then started the next three years. He made All-SEC at offensive tackle in 2016. He was second-team All-SEC in 2015 also at tackle. Pittman talked about Skipper on Monday.

“Well, I love Dan Skipper,” Pittman said. “Him and about everybody I’ve ever coached. Danny called me last week, and I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing. I don’t think he will. But he called me last week and said he was going to get his first start. He’s six years in, been cut, down to the practice squad, and he said, ‘I’m going to get my first start.’ He was very complimentary of me, like I had one thing to do with that, which I did not. He did all that.

“But then that video, Coach Campbell doing that, that was awesome. I called Dan after I saw that last night and visited with him a little bit. That was pretty special by Coach Campbell to do that then send him up so he could have the pleasantry of talking to all you guys in Detroit. I thought that was pretty cool. Also I texted Coach Campbell as well. I thought it was pretty cool. He texted me back. He didn’t have to do that either, but I thought it was really neat. I asked him about old Franky, and he said Franky is a stud, which we all knew that.”

That was Skipper’s 14th game in the NFL in six years and obviously the first start as noted. Maakaron had an outstanding quote from Skipper on his journey from the beginning to Sunday’s start.

“I think I’ve had 20 NFL contracts? They’re not worth the paper they’re written on, right? So, it’s like, ‘Here we go again.’ Six years, I think things look good, and it sucks, but went home, got things – got to spend a week with the family which was big, got back up here, moved and all that,” said Skipper. “Just trying to get back to push your best foot ahead every day. It’s not easy. Whether you’ve been fired once or 100 times, it still sucks. It’s tough. You get fired, but just keep on plugging away.”

In addition to his stints with Detroit in 2017-18, 2019-20 and now, Skipper has been with the Dallas Cowboys (2017), Denver Broncos (2018), New England Patriots (2018-19), Houston Texans (2019) and Las Vegas Raiders (2021).

While Skipper hasn’t experienced the success he wants in NFL he did get a Super Bowl title with the Patriots in LIII.