When UConn Football great Dan Orlovsky ’17 (BGS) pictured returning to the Storrs campus, he never imagined it would be to talk about social media rather than football.

Orlovsky, who led the Huskies to a win at their first bowl game, the 2004 Motor City Bowl, left UConn to play professionally for the NFL in 2005. He finished his degree in 2017, as his 12-year career in the NFL came to an end.

After retiring from the NFL, Orlovsky was watching a football game on TV in November 2017 when he broke down a play for his wife. She encouraged him to film his explanation and post it to social media. After initially resisting – Orlovsky says he used to think social media was a waste of time – he did it. When he woke up the next morning, the video had been watched and shared thousands of times.

Orlovsky found his niche. He continued to provide game analysis on Twitter, appeared on the NFL Network, and then was hired by ESPN as a football analyst in July 2018.

The record-setting quarterback returned to campus on March 13, to speak on fan engagement at UConn’s first Social Media Day, a social media professional development event for the UConn community.

Before his talk, Orlovsky reflected on his time at UConn, and discussed his approach to social media with Julie Bartucca of the UConn 360 podcast.

Listen to the podcast:

For full episodes of the UConn 360 podcast, visit uconn.edu/uconn360-podcast.