Early in the third quarter of the Sunday Night Football clash between the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers, a scoring play resulted in a clear winner on the night being declared.
Jimmy Garoppolo pulled a Dan Orlovsky by stepping out of the end zone, and the internet went wild
Garoppolo’s safety lets the ESPN analyst off the hook
Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
The winner? Former Detroit Lions quarterback, and current ESPN analyst, Dan Orlovsky.
After a punt from the Broncos pinned the 49ers deep in their own territory, the San Francisco offense took over. Facing 2nd and 10 on their own three-yard line, Kyle Shanahan called for a play-action design.
That’s when Jimmy Garoppolo let Orlovsky off the hook:
As noted, had Garoppolo not stepped out of the end zone, the play would have resulted in a Pick-Six for the Broncos. Instead the play went for a safety, cutting the San Francisco lead to 7-5.
Furthermore, had Garoppolo stayed in the field of play, he would not have given Orlovsky the reprieve he has been seeking for years. Back during the 2008 season, when the Lions failed to win a game, Orlovsky avoided the pressure from the Minnesota Vikings defensive front the only way he knew how ... by running out of the end zone:
After Garoppolo’s safety on Sunday night, it did not take long for the references to Orlovsky to start popping up on Twitter:
Some also pointed out that Orlovsky’s reprieve came on the same day of the Butt Punt, which perhaps also let Mark Sanchez off the hook for the Butt Fumble:
But the final word came from Orlovsky himself, who took a breather from breaking down film from the Philadelphia Eagles’ win over the Washington Commanders to channel his inner William Wallace:
Orlovsky followed
that up a little later with a fantastic photoshop:
Freedom, indeed.
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