Dan Orlovsky had heard enough of the empty clichés.
After Damar Hamlin collapsed on Monday Night Football on Jan. 2, 2023, “thoughts and prayers” echoed across the sports world, but to Orlovsky, it all felt hollow, like everyone was just going through the motions. So the next day on NFL Live, he did something almost unheard of on ESPN’s airwaves. He actually prayed.
“I thought to myself: someone should actually pray for Damar — like actually pray for him — instead of saying thoughts and prayers,” he said this week on the Awful Announcing Podcast with Brandon Contes.
And that’s what he did. Orlovsky bowed his head and prayed — for 50 full seconds — on national television.
And while the moment resonated with millions, Orlovsky admitted it wasn’t easy. In fact, it was deeply uncomfortable.
“I started to have this feeling in my heart, OK, Dan, God’s telling you, go pray for Damar,” he said.
Orlovsky kept going back and forth. He didn’t want it to feel performative.
On his drive to Bristol, Orlovsky informed one of his producers that he was considering praying while on air. He didn’t receive the slightest bit of pushback. The longtime NFL quarterback was told to be himself, with the only caveat being that he needed to inform his NFL Live colleagues before then.
Even then, he wasn’t sure.
He pulled Marcus Spears and Laura Rutledge aside just before the show. He told them he might pray. He also told them he might not.
“Marcus looked me dead in the eye and he was like, ‘All good, [but] don’t do it for TV, though. If you’re going to do it, do it because you want to pray for him,’” Orlovsky recalled.
Orlovsky spent most of the show with a pit in his stomach. He feared he might get fired. He feared how the public would react. And yet, the more nervous he became, the more certain he was that he needed to follow through.
When he eventually hit the point of being overwhelmingly scared to do it because of how it might be received, that’s when he knew he had to do it. He did for nearly a minute, and it quickly became one of the more memorable on-air moments in recent ESPN history.
The public response was overwhelmingly positive.
Orlovsky says people still stop him in airports to thank him. Some tell him they showed the clip to their kids, who now feel more comfortable praying in public.
“Did I get an email here and there or a text message here and there from people who said it wasn’t for them, not their cup of tea? Of course I did,” Orlovsky continued. “But, overwhelmingly, I think a lot of people just connected and it resonated with [them].”
And no, ESPN didn’t reprimand him. Quite the opposite.
“Again, I didn’t have any negative [feedback] or pushback or you know a wrist slap or anything from them about that,” he said.
At some point, we become numb to “thoughts and prayers.” The words lose meaning. But watching someone actually pray on ESPN — whether you agreed with Orlovsky’s decision to do so or not — felt real. And for that, credit to Dan Orlovsky for being vulnerable enough to share something personal, and credit to ESPN for letting him.
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