Lions’ Dan Campbell refutes referee’s account of trick play officiating

There’s not much question about whether the Detroit Lions’ trick play against the Kansas City Chiefs was against the rules. Lions quarterback Jared Goff was called for an illegal motion on a play he motioned from quarterback to receiver and caught a touchdown pass from David Montgomery. By definition, Jared Goff had established himself as a T-formation quarterback by standing directly behind center, which meant that if he went into motion, he needed to stop for a full second before the snap. He didn’t, and it was correctly flagged.

But what remains under question is how the officials got there. The flag was not initially called on the play, but after conferring for well over a minute, officials threw the flag and the play was nullified.

There are two very different accounts of what happe