Dan Orlovsky Says One of His Offensive Coordinators Once Fell Asleep During a Game

You all may know Dan Orlovsky now as an up-and-coming analyst and personality on ESPN, but one of his most infamous career footnotes will forever be that he started seven games at quarterback for the 2008 Detroit Lions, who were the first team in NFL history to finish a season 0-16. Suffice it to say Orlovsky has seen some dysfunction within a franchise.

So when asked on Chris Long's Green Light podcast what the most dysfunctional thing he witnessed in Detroit was, Orlovsky did not disappoint.

"I was the guy relaying the play call (to the starting quarterback)," Orlovsky said. "The series is starting. We trot out for first down and ... silence on the call. Our offensive coordinator at the time had fallen asleep in the booth. Fell asleep in the middle of an NFL football game while we had the ball as the play caller."

Orlovsky was in Detroit for a few seasons other than that infamous 2008 campaign, but this has to have been during that year. One would think that even at the NFL level, every team should luck into one win in 16 tries — seeing as it's happened literally every time except two— but having an offensive coordinator asleep at the wheel seems like a good indicator that your season might be a lost cause.

And put aside the fact that NFL stadiums are loud and it seems virtually impossible to fall asleep, how long did it take any of the other handful of coaches in the booth to wake him up? There are at least five or six guys up there and they're just letting the play caller take a nap while the offense is out on the field?

Calvin Johnson deserved so much better.