DETROIT, MI – OCTOBER 18: Dan Orlovsky #8 of the Detroit Lions looks on from the sidelines during the game against the Chicago Bears at Ford Field on October 18, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. The Lions defeated the Bears in overtime 37-34. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/Detroit Lions/Getty Images)
Former Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky has become a solid analyst for ESPN, and he’s now been promoted to a prominent game broadcast role.
Dan Orlovsky did not have a distinguished career as an NFL quarterback, beyond lasting over a decade as a career backup. Fans certainly best remember him from being run out of the back of the end zone by Jared Allen as the Detroit Lions’ quarterback in 2008. The play personified that 0-16 campaign for Detroit.
Orlovsky has become a solidly-regarded analyst for ESPN, appearing on “NFL Live” and other studio shows while also calling some college games. His high regard for former teammate Matthew Stafford became clear when the Rams made their Super Bowl run in last year’s playoffs.
ESPN re-did their “Monday Night Football” booth this offseason by bringing Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in together from Fox. That means Stevy Levy and Louis Riddick, two-thirds of the booth the last couple years along with the now departed (to be the 49ers quarterbacks coach) Brian Griese, have been demoted.
Dan Orlovsky promoted to the No. 2 ESPN broadcast team
ESPN occasionally needs a No. 2 NFL broadcast team though. According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, that No. 2 team will be Levy, Riddick and Orlovsky. Marchand added that Fox Sports pursued Orlovsky, where they would have had him fronting a five-day-a-week NFL show and doing some games on Sundays. But he was not a candidate for a top game analyst job for Fox, and ESPN has given him the one that they have.
In Week 2, it’s likely Levy, Riddick and Orlovsky will be on the call of the second Monday night game between the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles on ABC. The Week 8 London game between the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars will be streamed on ESPN+, so Levy, Riddick and Orlovsky would be in play for that one too.
Orlovsky was a fifth-round pick of the Lions in 2005 (145th overall) out of UConn. Over two stints in Detroit he played in 14 games, with seven starts during that winless 2008 season.