Dan Orlovsky is one of the smartest football minds working in television. But as far as common sense goes, there may still be some learning to do.
While Orlovsky’s most famous football moment is running out of the back of the endzone for a safety, he’s become ESPN’s go-to Xs and Os analyst, especially for the quarterback position. But he’s also incredibly open, even vulnerable, about his personal likes and dislikes, grooming habits, and anything else that could be seen as, well, unique.
It happened once again on Monday’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show, where Dan Orlovsky volunteered that at 43 years old, after two careers of making millions of dollars in the NFL and at ESPN, he just learned what percent means.
There’s no way @danorlovsky7
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— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 26, 2026
“Hand to God, true story. Do you guys know what percent, like the word percent, is derived from?” Orlovsky asked a perplexed crew. “How come it’s percent?”
“So [Paul Hembekides] this morning was like, ‘Joe Burrow, his sack rate is four percent.’ And I said, ‘Dumb this down for me. No human’s going to hear me say that and I’m going to make them smart.’ And he goes, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ I said, ‘What does that actually mean?’ He goes, ‘Out of every 100 dropbacks, he’s getting sacked four times. And I said, ‘Is that really what it is? It’s always out of 100?'”
According to Mathnasium, elementary students typically begin learning about percentages in fourth grade. Now, you would think in a sport like the NFL, where things like Red Zone percentage, third down percentage, fourth down percentage, completion percentage, and so many other statistics are built upon the concept, that there would have to be some baseline of understanding. But maybe we shouldn’t assume those things are common knowledge for everyone. We should all support the lifelong process of learning. Maybe Orlovsky will inspire someone to freshen up on their knowledge of the metric system, who knows.
And you know what, good for Dan Orlovsky for being willing to poke fun at himself and have everyone laugh along. It’s a good lesson for others working in television that sometimes it’s ok to do so.
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