On Tuesday, Dan Orlovsky tried to power through on his wild take that Ty Simpson is a better NFL quarterback prospect than Fernando Mendoza, and no one on The Pat McAfee Show let him slide.
McAfee pressed Orlovsky on his admiration for Simpson and whether CAA, which represents both of them, has anything to do with his controversial opinion. McAfee and his cohorts also refused to let it slide when the ESPN NFL analyst tried to make it seem like Mendoza, who led Indiana to the national championship with wins over Oregon, Ohio State, Simpson’s Alabama, and Miami, didn’t show up in big games.
Dan Orlovsky responds to claims that he prefers Ty Simpson to Fernando Mendoza because of his CAA affiliation.
“There’s no ulterior motive behind this”pic.twitter.com/S5Eh4igxSa
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 24, 2026
It was a brutal appearance that seemed to typify Orlovsky’s recent obstinacy and hot-takeery on the issue. From where we were sitting, the pushback was warranted and justified, especially as Orlovsky seemed to refuse to budge without providing appropriate arguments that explained why he’s out on an island with this take.
Some who watched the interaction felt that McAfee and his crew went too far, and that was perhaps backed by Orlovsky’s X post later that day, a photo of a poster in a laundromat window that read “People Often Forget That Kindness is Free.”
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) March 24, 2026
“We love you, Dan,” replied McAfee shortly after. And the gregarious College GameDay analyst also tried to follow up with Orlovsky later. However, his attempt was apparently rebuffed.
“Dan Orlovsky had a long day on the internet yesterday,” McAfee said towards the top of Wednesday’s show. “We would like everybody to know we love Dan Orlovsky. We birthed Dan Orlovsky. So we actually love Danno. He swam himself right into this one, so that’s on him. But we know Dan. Dan will go back to the tape. Dan will continue to do his thing. We appreciate Dan. We love Dan.”
While McAfee made it clear he and the show have tons of appreciation for Orlovsky, he did make it clear that he has some quibbles with how the ESPN analyst handles himself in these situations.
“I kinda hate how he does stuff and then plays victim. I don’t like how that happens,” he added. “But on that note, we love Danno. We love everything about Danno. And Danno genuinely believes everything he’s saying. I think people need to give him a little bit more credit for that, even if he does ask dumb questions like ‘What big games has Fernando Mendoza played in?'”
McAfee then dropped an unforunate development in his relationship with Orlovsky.
“First time in our relationship history, didn’t answer my FaceTime last night,” said McAfee to a stunned studio. “I think he was a little bummed out.”
We love @danorlovsky7 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/SG1QmU6ccE
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 25, 2026
McAfee then went on to make it abundantly clear that there were no hard feelings on his side. It’s hard to imagine that Orlovsky won’t return to the show, though his next appearance might need to be a chance to air some grievences and put things behind them.
That is, unless he keeps going on with his bad opinions on Ty Simpson and Fernando Mendoza…
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.