Boomer Esiason
Encyclopedia
Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason (əˈsaɪ.əsən; born April 17, 1961) is a former American football
quarterback
and current network color commentator
. He played for the National Football League's
Cincinnati Bengals
, New York Jets
, and Arizona Cardinals
before working as an analyst for ABC and HBO. He is currently an analyst for CBS Sports
primarily on The NFL Today
, as well as morning co-host on New York radio station WFAN
and Monday Night Football analyst for Westwood One
.
, and grew up in East Islip, New York
. He attended Timber Point Elementary and East Islip High School on Long Island, New York, where he graduated in 1979, where he was a three-sport varsity player in football, basketball, and baseball. Esiason got the "Boomer" nickname before he was born. His mother, reacting to his constant kicking in the womb, called him "Boomer," and he has kept the name since.
for head coach Bobby Ross
and offensive coordinator Ralph Friedgen
. At Maryland, he set 17 school records. Esiason completed 461 of 850 passes (54.2 percent) for 6,259 yards and 42 touchdowns and was a two-time honorable mention All-American in 1982 and 1983. In his final home game he threw two third-quarter touchdown passes to lead a comeback victory over No. 3 North Carolina
and seal the ACC title. Esiason graduated with a B.A. in 1984 and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999. He is today one of the best-known former Terrapin football players.
with the 38th overall pick, surprisingly low. ESPN
draft analyst Mel Kiper was, in Esiason's words, "going ballistic" that he was still available in the latter stages of the first round. Two of his teammates on the Terrapins
squad, guard Ron Solt
and defensive end Pete Koch, were drafted in the first round by the Indianapolis Colts
and the Bengals, respectively. No quarterbacks were drafted in the first round; Esiason was actually the first one selected. He was also drafted by the Washington Federals franchise of the now-defunct United States Football League
.
Among the most prolific left-handed quarterbacks in NFL history, Boomer got his first pro start on October 7, 1984, in Cincinnati in a game against the Houston Oilers. On a rainy day, Boomer led the Bengals to a 13–3 win over Houston and scored the game's only touchdown on a 3 yard run. Boomer took over for Ken Anderson as the Bengals' full-time starting quarterback on September 22, 1985, in a game in Cincinnati against the San Diego Chargers
. He could not repeat the victory of his first career start, as the Bengals fell to the Chargers and eventual Hall of Famer Dan Fouts
44–41. At 6'-5" and 224 pounds, far larger than his predecessor and with a much more powerful arm, Esiason was the signal caller on one of the most potent offenses of the late 1980s, and he was surprisingly mobile, rushing for 1,598 yards on 447 attempts and scoring 7 touchdowns in his career. He was particularly adept at running the difficult play-action pass
play. A little over three years later, Esiason led the Cincinnati Bengals to their second (and to date, their last) appearance in the Super Bowl
, where they again lost another close game to the San Francisco 49ers
. In Super Bowl XXIII
, the 49ers, led by Hall of Fame
quarterback Joe Montana
, marched 92 yards on their last drive and won the game on a touchdown pass to receiver John Taylor
with 34 seconds remaining in the game. A last-ditch pass to wide receiver Cris Collinsworth
was broken up, leading to a 20–16 loss for the Bengals. Esiason won the 1988 NFL MVP award and was named to the Pro Bowl
, but was so depressed by the team's close Super Bowl loss that he declined to play in it.
), subsequently guiding their offense until the end of 1995. During his 1995 season with the Jets, he was seriously injured in a game played on October 8 against the Buffalo Bills
when rookie Everett McIver
was whistled for a false start and Bruce Smith of the Bills raced around him and caught Esiason under his facemask. Smith had been terribly upset about Esiason's injury and said he never heard a whistle blowing the play dead for false start. That horrific collision gave Esiason a severe concussion, which he was sidelined until November 19—ironically that game was played against the Bills.
After being released by the Jets, Esiason signed with the Arizona Cardinals
as a free agent in 1996. It was during this season, on November 10, 1996, that Esiason threw for the 3rd best passing yardage day in NFL History, with 522 yards in a 37-34 overtime victory over the Washington Redskins
. He contemplated retirement in the offseason, but was talked into playing one more season — with the Cincinnati Bengals. Esiason was surprisingly effective after replacing Jeff Blake
midway through the 1997 season, throwing for 13 touchdowns and with only 2 interceptions and garnering a passer rating of over 106 for the season. The Bengals were 3-8 with Blake under center. With Esiason at quarterback they won four of their last five games and scored over 30 points four times - twice they broke 40 points, in a 44-42 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles
and a 41-14 rout of the Tennessee Oilers.
The final play of his 14-year professional career was a 70-yard touchdown pass to receiver Darnay Scott
; the touchdown proved the winner in a 16-14 final over the Baltimore Ravens
.
games (1986, 1988, 1989, 1993) and holds several NFL career records for left-handed quarterbacks, including most touchdown passes (247), passing yards (37,920), and completions (2,969). Esiason also led the AFC in passing in both 1988 and 1989.
Among the awards Boomer Esiason has earned during his career include the NFL Most Valuable Player Award in 1988 (leading the league with a quarterback rating of 97.4), and the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award
in 1995 for his charitable work.
In 2004, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame
.
for ABC
's Monday Night Football
from 1998
to 2000
. Following his dismissal by ABC (due primarily to personal conflicts between him and play-by-play announcer Al Michaels
), Esiason was hired by the Westwood One
radio network to become the analyst for radio broadcasts of Monday Night Football games. Esiason also currently serves as an in-studio analyst for The NFL Today
on CBS
television and co-hosts Boomer and Carton in the Morning
on WFAN
Radio in New York and the Madison Square Garden Network. While Esiason has thus far not ghostwritten the de rigueur autobiography
, he authored a children's reader in 1995 titled A Boy Named Boomer and co-wrote (with Lowell Cauffiel) a 1998 novel titled Toss.
, CBS Radio gave Boomer a one-week "try-out" as Imus's replacement on WFAN. (The slot had been covered by WFAN afternoon duo Mike and the Mad Dog
for several weeks before Boomer's audition.) WFAN announced Esiason as the permanent host on August 13, along with Craig Carton
, formerly of New Jersey 101.5 and WIP
. Boomer and Carton officially started as of September 4. On September 6, Esiason pulled double duty: he worked the morning show on WFAN, then flew to Indianapolis to cover the Indianapolis Colts
open the 2007 NFL season against the New Orleans Saints
on Westwood One
with Marv Albert
, then returned to do the morning show the next day. However, both Carton and Albert mocked how tired he was, including jokes about Esiason's intake of Red Bull
and espresso
.
, a disease of the respiratory and digestive systems. The Foundation also provides education and awareness of cystic fibrosis to provide higher quality of life for people with cystic fibrosis.
While at a Jets mini-camp in 1993, Esiason was notified that his two-year-old son, Gunnar, had to be taken to the hospital with breathing difficulties. Soon after, Gunnar was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Boomer Esiason soon after formed the foundation. In 1998, he formed a partnership with John Sawyer, a co-founder of the Bengals and the chairman of Sawyer Industries to form a company that would sell what came to be called Boomer's Products to Fight Cystic Fibrosis. The offices were located in 1996 on the 101st floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center
. This was destroyed in 2001 in the September 11 attacks. All five full-time employees survived, as none were in the building at the time, but "Esiason figured he knew 100 people personally" who were killed in the attack.
Gunnar Esiason is now an extremely active teenager who undergoes daily treatments and takes medication. He was a quarterback for his high school football team, Friends Academy
in Locust Valley, New York
. Gunnar began attending Boston College
in the Fall of 2009.
, with his wife Cheryl, their son, Gunnar, and daughter Sydney.
Esiason was a judge on Iron Chef America
.
In 2009, he was named "Father of the Year" in the first annual Open Salon
Father's Day Awards.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
and current network color commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
. He played for the National Football League's
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
, New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
before working as an analyst for ABC and HBO. He is currently an analyst for CBS Sports
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
primarily on The NFL Today
The NFL Today
The NFL Today is an American sports series that precedes the American football program The NFL on CBS on CBS Sports. The program usually airs at noon on Sundays of the National Football League regular season...
, as well as morning co-host on New York radio station WFAN
WFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
and Monday Night Football analyst for Westwood One
NFL on Westwood One
The NFL on Westwood One is the brand name given to weekly National Football League games carried on the radio over the Dial Global Radio Network...
.
Early life
Esiason was born in West Islip, New YorkWest Islip, New York
West Islip is a hamlet and CDP, located in Suffolk County, New York, USA. Situated on the south shore of Long Island, the population of the CDP was 29,907 at the time of the 2000 census.-Geography:West Islip is located at ....
, and grew up in East Islip, New York
East Islip, New York
East Islip is a hamlet and CDP in the Town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York, . At the time of the 2000 census, the CDP had 4,578 households and a population of 14,078.-History and overview:...
. He attended Timber Point Elementary and East Islip High School on Long Island, New York, where he graduated in 1979, where he was a three-sport varsity player in football, basketball, and baseball. Esiason got the "Boomer" nickname before he was born. His mother, reacting to his constant kicking in the womb, called him "Boomer," and he has kept the name since.
University of Maryland
Esiason played college football at the University of MarylandUniversity of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
for head coach Bobby Ross
Bobby Ross
Robert Joseph Ross is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at The Citadel , the University of Maryland, College Park , the Georgia Institute of Technology , and the United States Military Academy , compiling a career college football record of 103–101–2...
and offensive coordinator Ralph Friedgen
Ralph Friedgen
Ralph Harry Friedgen is an American football coach. He was the head coach at the University of Maryland from 2001 to 2010. Friedgen was previously an offensive coordinator at Maryland, Georgia Tech, and in the National Football League with the San Diego Chargers...
. At Maryland, he set 17 school records. Esiason completed 461 of 850 passes (54.2 percent) for 6,259 yards and 42 touchdowns and was a two-time honorable mention All-American in 1982 and 1983. In his final home game he threw two third-quarter touchdown passes to lead a comeback victory over No. 3 North Carolina
North Carolina Tar Heels football
The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in collegiate level football. In Carolina’s first 121 seasons of football competition, the Tar Heels have compiled a record of 646–488–54, a winning percentage of .566...
and seal the ACC title. Esiason graduated with a B.A. in 1984 and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999. He is today one of the best-known former Terrapin football players.
Cincinnati Bengals
Following his final year at Maryland, Esiason was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft1984 NFL Draft
The 1984 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 1-2, 1984. No teams elected to claim any players in the regular supplemental draft that...
with the 38th overall pick, surprisingly low. ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
draft analyst Mel Kiper was, in Esiason's words, "going ballistic" that he was still available in the latter stages of the first round. Two of his teammates on the Terrapins
Maryland Terrapins football
The Maryland Terrapins football team represents the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision competition. The Terrapins compete within the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
squad, guard Ron Solt
Ron Solt
Ronald Matthew Solt is a former American football guard in the National Football League for the Indianapolis Colts and the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at the University of Maryland and was drafted in the first round of the 1984 NFL Draft...
and defensive end Pete Koch, were drafted in the first round by the Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
and the Bengals, respectively. No quarterbacks were drafted in the first round; Esiason was actually the first one selected. He was also drafted by the Washington Federals franchise of the now-defunct United States Football League
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
.
Among the most prolific left-handed quarterbacks in NFL history, Boomer got his first pro start on October 7, 1984, in Cincinnati in a game against the Houston Oilers. On a rainy day, Boomer led the Bengals to a 13–3 win over Houston and scored the game's only touchdown on a 3 yard run. Boomer took over for Ken Anderson as the Bengals' full-time starting quarterback on September 22, 1985, in a game in Cincinnati against the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. He could not repeat the victory of his first career start, as the Bengals fell to the Chargers and eventual Hall of Famer Dan Fouts
Dan Fouts
Daniel Francis Fouts is a retired Hall of Fame American football quarterback in the National Football League. Fouts played his entire professional career with the San Diego Chargers from 1973 through 1987...
44–41. At 6'-5" and 224 pounds, far larger than his predecessor and with a much more powerful arm, Esiason was the signal caller on one of the most potent offenses of the late 1980s, and he was surprisingly mobile, rushing for 1,598 yards on 447 attempts and scoring 7 touchdowns in his career. He was particularly adept at running the difficult play-action pass
Play action pass
A play-action pass is a type of American football play. The play action, or "PA" for short, appears to be a running play, but is actually a pass play; in this way, it can be considered the opposite of a draw play. Play-action passes are often used against defenses that are presently focused on...
play. A little over three years later, Esiason led the Cincinnati Bengals to their second (and to date, their last) appearance in the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
, where they again lost another close game to the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
. In Super Bowl XXIII
Super Bowl XXIII
Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1988 regular season. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held...
, the 49ers, led by Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
quarterback Joe Montana
Joe Montana
Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana, Jr. , nicknamed Joe Cool, Golden Joe, The Golden Great and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played quarterback for the next 14 seasons...
, marched 92 yards on their last drive and won the game on a touchdown pass to receiver John Taylor
John Taylor (American football player)
John Gregory Taylor is a former American football wide receiver with the San Francisco 49ers. Taylor attended Pennsauken High School and was one of six NFL players to come from PHS during the 1980s. Taylor attended Delaware State College and was a member of their football team, the Hornets...
with 34 seconds remaining in the game. A last-ditch pass to wide receiver Cris Collinsworth
Cris Collinsworth
Anthony Cris Collinsworth is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League for eight seasons in the 1980s. He played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played his entire professional career for...
was broken up, leading to a 20–16 loss for the Bengals. Esiason won the 1988 NFL MVP award and was named to the Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
, but was so depressed by the team's close Super Bowl loss that he declined to play in it.
New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals and back to Cincinnati
Esiason was traded to his hometown New York Jets for a third round pick in 1993 (which became linebacker Steve TovarSteve Tovar
Steven Eric Tovar is a former college and professional American football linebacker and a former football coach at the University of Kansas.-College career:...
), subsequently guiding their offense until the end of 1995. During his 1995 season with the Jets, he was seriously injured in a game played on October 8 against the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
when rookie Everett McIver
Everett McIver
Everett McIver is a former American football offensive guard in the National Football League. He was signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 1994. He played college football at Elizabeth City State...
was whistled for a false start and Bruce Smith of the Bills raced around him and caught Esiason under his facemask. Smith had been terribly upset about Esiason's injury and said he never heard a whistle blowing the play dead for false start. That horrific collision gave Esiason a severe concussion, which he was sidelined until November 19—ironically that game was played against the Bills.
After being released by the Jets, Esiason signed with the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
as a free agent in 1996. It was during this season, on November 10, 1996, that Esiason threw for the 3rd best passing yardage day in NFL History, with 522 yards in a 37-34 overtime victory over the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
. He contemplated retirement in the offseason, but was talked into playing one more season — with the Cincinnati Bengals. Esiason was surprisingly effective after replacing Jeff Blake
Jeff Blake
Jeff Bertrand Coleman Blake is a retired American football quarterback who played in the National Football League. Although he finished his career with the Chicago Bears, he was formerly a quarterback for the New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, Arizona...
midway through the 1997 season, throwing for 13 touchdowns and with only 2 interceptions and garnering a passer rating of over 106 for the season. The Bengals were 3-8 with Blake under center. With Esiason at quarterback they won four of their last five games and scored over 30 points four times - twice they broke 40 points, in a 44-42 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
and a 41-14 rout of the Tennessee Oilers.
The final play of his 14-year professional career was a 70-yard touchdown pass to receiver Darnay Scott
Darnay Scott
Darnay Scott is a former professional American football player who was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft.-High school career:...
; the touchdown proved the winner in a 16-14 final over the Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...
.
Records and honors
Boomer Esiason was named to four Pro BowlPro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
games (1986, 1988, 1989, 1993) and holds several NFL career records for left-handed quarterbacks, including most touchdown passes (247), passing yards (37,920), and completions (2,969). Esiason also led the AFC in passing in both 1988 and 1989.
Among the awards Boomer Esiason has earned during his career include the NFL Most Valuable Player Award in 1988 (leading the league with a quarterback rating of 97.4), and the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award
Walter Payton Man of the Year Award
The Walter Payton Man of the Year award is given annually by the National Football League honoring a player's volunteer and charity work, as well as his excellence on the field. Prior to 1999, it was called simply the NFL Man of the Year Award...
in 1995 for his charitable work.
In 2004, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame
Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame
The Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame honors elite athletes who have roots in Nassau County, New York. The Hall of Fame presentation takes places at the Nassau County Sports Commission "Salute to Champions" Awards Dinner annually every April.-Inductees:...
.
Broadcasting career
After his retirement, Boomer Esiason went into broadcasting. He was a color commentatorColor commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
from 1998
1998 NFL season
The 1998 NFL season was the 79th regular season of the National Football League.The Tennessee Oilers moved their home games from Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, still awaiting construction on a new stadium in Nashville.This was the first season that CBS...
to 2000
2000 NFL season
The 2000 NFL season was the 81st regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXXV when the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants.Week 1 of the season reverted to Labor Day weekend in 2000...
. Following his dismissal by ABC (due primarily to personal conflicts between him and play-by-play announcer Al Michaels
Al Michaels
Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession...
), Esiason was hired by the Westwood One
NFL on Westwood One
The NFL on Westwood One is the brand name given to weekly National Football League games carried on the radio over the Dial Global Radio Network...
radio network to become the analyst for radio broadcasts of Monday Night Football games. Esiason also currently serves as an in-studio analyst for The NFL Today
The NFL Today
The NFL Today is an American sports series that precedes the American football program The NFL on CBS on CBS Sports. The program usually airs at noon on Sundays of the National Football League regular season...
on CBS
NFL on CBS
The NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...
television and co-hosts Boomer and Carton in the Morning
Boomer and Carton in the Morning
Boomer and Carton in the Morning is a morning drive sports radio program on WFAN in New York City. The hosts of the radio program are former NFL quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals, Boomer Esiason and former Jersey Guy Craig Carton.The show debuted on...
on WFAN
WFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
Radio in New York and the Madison Square Garden Network. While Esiason has thus far not ghostwritten the de rigueur autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, he authored a children's reader in 1995 titled A Boy Named Boomer and co-wrote (with Lowell Cauffiel) a 1998 novel titled Toss.
Boomer and Carton in the Morning
In April 2007 after the firing of Don ImusDon Imus
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
, CBS Radio gave Boomer a one-week "try-out" as Imus's replacement on WFAN. (The slot had been covered by WFAN afternoon duo Mike and the Mad Dog
Mike and the Mad Dog
Mike and the Mad Dog was an afternoon drive sports radio program based out of WFAN in New York City that featured Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo talking sports and taking phone calls from listeners. From 2002 onwards the show was simulcasted on the YES Network...
for several weeks before Boomer's audition.) WFAN announced Esiason as the permanent host on August 13, along with Craig Carton
Craig Carton
Craig Harris Carton is an American radio personality who currently co-hosts the Boomer and Carton in the Morning radio program.-Biography:...
, formerly of New Jersey 101.5 and WIP
WIP-AM
WIP is a Philadelphia radio station with an all-sports format. Located at 610 AM, the station adopted its current all-sports format in 1986, making it the first all-sports radio station in the United States...
. Boomer and Carton officially started as of September 4. On September 6, Esiason pulled double duty: he worked the morning show on WFAN, then flew to Indianapolis to cover the Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
open the 2007 NFL season against the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
on Westwood One
Westwood One
Westwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
with Marv Albert
Marv Albert
Marv Albert is an American television and radio sportscaster. Honored for his work as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he is commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball." From 1967–2004, he was also known as "the voice of the New York Knicks."Including Super Bowl XLII, Marv has called...
, then returned to do the morning show the next day. However, both Carton and Albert mocked how tired he was, including jokes about Esiason's intake of Red Bull
Red Bull
Red Bull is an energy drink sold by the Austrian Red Bull GmbH, created in 1987 by the Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz. In terms of market share, Red Bull is the most popular energy drink in the world, with 3 billion cans sold each year. Dietrich Mateschitz was inspired by an already...
and espresso
Espresso
Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso is widely known throughout the world....
.
Boomer Esiason Foundation
The Boomer Esiason Foundation was created to fund research to find a cure for cystic fibrosisCystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
, a disease of the respiratory and digestive systems. The Foundation also provides education and awareness of cystic fibrosis to provide higher quality of life for people with cystic fibrosis.
While at a Jets mini-camp in 1993, Esiason was notified that his two-year-old son, Gunnar, had to be taken to the hospital with breathing difficulties. Soon after, Gunnar was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Boomer Esiason soon after formed the foundation. In 1998, he formed a partnership with John Sawyer, a co-founder of the Bengals and the chairman of Sawyer Industries to form a company that would sell what came to be called Boomer's Products to Fight Cystic Fibrosis. The offices were located in 1996 on the 101st floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
. This was destroyed in 2001 in the September 11 attacks. All five full-time employees survived, as none were in the building at the time, but "Esiason figured he knew 100 people personally" who were killed in the attack.
Gunnar Esiason is now an extremely active teenager who undergoes daily treatments and takes medication. He was a quarterback for his high school football team, Friends Academy
Friends Academy
Friends Academy is a Quaker, coeducational, independent, college preparatory school serving students from nursery school through the twelfth grade, located in Locust Valley, New York, United States. The school was founded in 1876 by 78-year-old Gideon Frost for "The children of Friends and those...
in Locust Valley, New York
Locust Valley, New York
Locust Valley is a hamlet located in Nassau County, New York. Locust Valley is an unincorporated area of the Town of Oyster Bay...
. Gunnar began attending Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
in the Fall of 2009.
Personal life
Esiason lives in Manhasset, New YorkManhasset, New York
Manhasset is a hamlet and neighborhood in Nassau County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 8,080....
, with his wife Cheryl, their son, Gunnar, and daughter Sydney.
Esiason was a judge on Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America
Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the...
.
In 2009, he was named "Father of the Year" in the first annual Open Salon
Open Salon
Open Salon is a hybrid blogging platform and social network site started by the Salon Media Group, Inc. According to Salon Editor-in-Chief Joan Walsh "Open Salon gets rid of traditional gatekeepers, and makes our smart, creative audience full partners in Salon's publishing future." After...
Father's Day Awards.
See also
- List of NFL Quarterbacks who have passed for 400 or more yards
- List of NFL quarterbacks who have posted a perfect passer rating
- List of 300-Yard Passing Games by NFL Quarterbacks