Obama: I'd be aggravated if I were a Lions fan

WASHINGTON - Add the leader of the free world to those bewildered by the call-then-no-call in the Lions-Cowboys NFC Wild Card game on Sunday.

President Obama was in Michigan this week on an official visit to a manufacturing plant of the Ford Motor Company when he remarked to the Detroit Free Press that he would be "pretty aggravated" if he were a Lions fan after the circumstances surrounding their defeat to Dallas.

A flag was initially thrown and then picked up without explanation on Sunday when Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens appeared to interfere with Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew on a 3rd-and-1 play in the third quarter when Detroit held a three-point lead.

The President said he could not "remember a circumstance in which a good call by one of the refs is argued by an opposing player of the other team with his helmet off on the field, which in and of itself is supposed to be a penalty. The call is announced and then reversed without explanation. I haven't seen that before. So I will leave it up to the experts to make the judgment as to why that happened, but I can tell you if I was a Lions fan I'd be pretty aggravated."

Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant charged onto the field without his helmet to protest the call to the nearby back judge, an act which constitutes unsportsmanlike conduct.

Obama, a former senator from Illinois and long-time Chicago Bears fan, wouldn't let himself feel too badly for his team's NFC North rivals. Chicago finished a five-win campaign and missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season.

"Given the performance of my Bears, I can't have too much sympathy for the Lions," the President quipped. "You guys were in a lot better position than we were. I'd love to have your defense right now."

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was wearing a microphone for NFL Films during the game, went to two officials following the call, seeking an explanation.

"You have no contact before the ball arrived," one official said, according to Pro Football Talk.

"There was no contact," another said.

That, despite Pettigrew falling to the turf with Hitchens on top of him during the play.

Detroit would attempt a subsequent 4th-and-1 play to draw Dallas offsides that failed, then shank a 10 yard punt that led to the Cowboys' game-winning drive.

Dallas will travel to Green Bay to face the Packers in an NFC Divisional game on Sunday.