Former UConn and NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky dominating retirement
STORRS, Conn. (BVM) — Waking up, dressing in your best clothes, and driving to work to speak about sports on national television seems like a dream to many. However, after 12-seasons as a backup quarterback in the NFL, Dan Orlovsky is pursuing what seems like a dream job for many sports fanatics across the country.
After his playing career, Orlovsky quickly found his niche talking about college and professional football on nearly every ESPN platform. By doing this, Orlovsky has become one of sports media’s rising stars by calling college football games and providing professional NFL analysis.
The Connecticut native grew up in Shelton, Conn. and after a successful high school career, Orlovsky chose to sign his National Letter of Intent to play football at the University of Connecticut. After the starting quarterback at UConn suffered a sprained knee, Orlovsky quickly burst onto the scene as a freshman becoming the Huskies new starter. This was the start to a very promising and successful college football career for Orlovsky.
After his freshman season, Orlovsky started every single game as a sophomore, finishing with 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He would go on to total 2,488 passing yards, ranking him fourth on the school’s season-record list.
As a junior, Orlovsky ranked seventh in the nation in passing with 58.7 completion percentage, while passing for 3,485 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. His 33 touchdowns ranked first in the NCAA Division I-A. As a senior, the Huskies’ quarterback guided the team to victory in its inaugural bowl appearance and now holds the school record for most pass completions with 916, pass attempts with 1,567, yards passing with 10,706, touchdown passes with 84, and total yards with 10,421.
Following his successful college career, Orlovsky was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. However, his professional career did not pan out as brightly as his college career did. After four seasons as a backup quarterback with Detroit, Orlovksy signed a 3-year deal with Houston Texans and stayed as a backup quarterback while in Texas. After stints with four different teams, Orlovsky announced retirement from professional football in 2017. This is where Orlovsky found his calling.
From serving as a backup quarterback for 12-seasons in the NFL, Orlovsky found that he learned a great deal about analyzing games and seeing the game through a different lens than just as a player. He created a habit of analyzing plays for his wife while watching NFL players. After encouragement from his wife, Orlovsky began to post his game breakdowns on his social media accounts.
After his breakdown of a Panthers went viral with his expert analysis, Orlovsky began regularly appearing on the NFL Network as a guest panelist on Good Morning Football. It was no surprise that he was an expert the second he got in front of the camera. As his appearances on the NFL Network began to become more abundant, ESPN began to notice his skillful analysis of the game.
“Being a backup quarterback, your life is about preparation, and then you take that preparation and turn it into communication,” Orlovsky said in an interview with The Athletic.
Orlovksy found himself with job offers from both the NFL Network and ESPN. The ESPN offer included the chance to be a part of live college football broadcasts in addition to NFL studio work, which was too close to a dream for Orlovsky to turn down.
For the 2018 season, Orlovksy found himself commuting to New York from Philadelphia two days a week for appearances on “Get Up,” Mike Greenberg’s morning show, and various college games on Saturdays. What began as play breakdowns on Twitter, Orlovsky used his football IQ to earn guest-appearances on national television. His expert analysis then eventually led to a couple of appearances a week at ESPN. Not long after, he was entering a full-time sports broadcasting career. This is what many would describe as a “dream job.”
Perhaps the most exciting and rewarding part of this entire career Orlovsky has made is that he is still involved with the game he loves. He did not have to leave his past behind and move on to another facet of life. He now serves as a fan, educator, and even ambassador of the sport.
“When someone comes up to me and says, ‘I learned something,’ that, to me, is like, ‘Inject that into my veins,” Orlovksy told The Athletic.
