ESPN Host Dan Orlovsky Chokes Up as Son with Autism Shares His Drawings During Show: ‘It’s His Superpower’

Orlovsky said he “cried a lot” seeing the “NFL Live” studio decorated with Madden’s art

Dan Orlovsky became emotional while introducing his son Madden on a very special episode of ESPN’s NFL Live.

In honor of World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, the show’s studio transformed its usual set to display drawings by 13-year-old Madden, who has autism.

Orlovsky, 41, said Madden’s “superpower” is drawing. “He loves to draw, animation, characters,” the host shared as he introduced a clip of Madden entering the studio that morning to see his drawings on display.

“This is like him in his truest form,” Orlovsky said, revealing that some of the characters Madden drew for the show were created anywhere from months ago to three or five years earlier. “His favorite thing in the world is to draw, to create characters,” said Orlovsky.

“It’s his superpower, it’s his favorite thing to do and he’s incredibly talented at it,” he continued as footage of the father and son admiring the art was shown.

Orlovsky, who says he has “boxes” of Madden’s art at home, revealed that the show’s director Tim Farrell had the idea to use his son’s drawings for the April 2 show. Farrell told USA Today before the episode aired that he came up with the idea after Orlovsky shared some of Madden’s Toy Story-inspired art in a post on X.

Orlovsky told USA Today he “didn’t even know” Farrell “that well” when the director suggested using his son’s art. “I looked at him like ‘You have no concept of what you just did’ in an unbelievably kind way,” he shared.

After the episode aired, Orlovsky and his son received an outpouring of support for his art. In a post on X, Orlovsky wrote, “Cried a lot today—tears of being a proud dad,” and shared a video of the segment featuring Madden’s art.

Orlovsky’s wife Tiffany spoke to USA Today about her son, sharing that Madden “expresses himself” through his art. “Sometimes, even his emotions are shown in it,” she said, adding that Madden creates “at least three new drawings or cartoons” every day.

“He’s very creative with his characters’ facial expressions, so that’s neat to see, how intuitive he is with emotions and other people’s emotions. Honestly, it just creates a conversation or a starter for us to kind of relate to him.”