Dan Orlovsky The Pivot Screengrab: The Pivot

Dan Orlovsky has certainly made more of a name for himself as an analyst than he did as a quarterback. Perhaps his running out of the back of the end zone is more memorable than any piece of analysis he’s delivered on ESPN. But he has cemented himself as one of the faces of the football media.

Orlovsky joined his ESPN colleague Ryan Clark on the set of Clark’s The Pivot podcast, which was live for this weekend’s NFL Draft in Detroit. And co-host Channing Crowder bluntly told Orlovsky that he was a better football player than Orlovsky was, having started six straight seasons as a linebacker for the Miami Dolphins.

Crowder wasn’t insulting his guest; it was merely a way to tell Orlovsky that he’s better at what he’s doing now than he was as an active quarterback. And Crowder also wanted to know what Orlovsky was put on this earth to do.

He feels like he was put on this planet to analyze football.

“I’m way better at TV than I was at actually playing,” Orlovsky said. “I’m better at telling you what’s happening than actually doing it — unquestionably. I always loved math as a kid. I was always a numbers person. I think that one of the things that I guess, really enjoy is that I understand football in a math capacity. It’s 11-on-11.”

So, while the reactions to Orlovsky’s comments will likely receive the typical “no kidding” and so on, his candidness is notable. He could’ve pushed back at Crowder’s suggestion that his playing career was less than his analyst one, but he didn’t. As a career backup, Orlovsky spent most of his NFL career holding a clipboard, but he started 12 games (posting a 2-10 record).

His experience in the NFL has helped shape his perspective as an analyst.

Perhaps too often, Orlovsky comes to the defense of quarterbacks. But it’s pretty notable to hear an analyst willingly admit that they’re a better teacher of the game than they were playing it. That’s usually reserved for coaches. And while Orlovsky hasn’t put a coaching dream to bed just yet, it seems he’s quite content in his role as ESPN’s resident quarterback.

[The Pivot on YouTube]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.