Craig Carton is no longer incarcerated after being granted an early release, just 12 months into his three-and-a-half-year sentence. The polarizing radio host is unquestionably one of the most talented in the business and it has many people asking how soon will Carton be back behind the mic?
According to his former co-host Boomer Esiason and his replacement on WFAN’s morning show Gregg Giannotti, Carton deserves a second chance.
“I get off the radio [Tuesday] and I see a number pop up on my screen,” Esiason said Wednesday morning on WFAN. “I’m thinking, ‘Is this spam? What is this? I answer the phone, I say ‘hello?’ And I hear a very familiar voice saying, ‘Hey, it’s me. I’m out!’ It was Craigy, calling to let me know he was released from jail [Tuesday] morning. What I heard was a happy and relieved Craig Carton.”
Boomer noted his former radio partner did everything he possibly could in jail to mitigate his sentence and get out early, which was a hope Carton expressed prior to beginning his tenure in prison last year.
“There were times he was talking about getting out early, then other times the next email would say ‘now I don’t think it’s going to happen,’ so he would go back and forth. But I didn’t hear from him for about a week or so until the phone rang yesterday, and he was driving in a car heading home,” WFAN morning show producer Al Dukes said.
Carton had limited access to email during his time in prison, but was able to interact with a select group of friends and family, including Esiason, Dukes and Jerry Recco.
“I do believe he deserves a second chance, whether it be here at our station or another station,” Esiason said. “He’s too talented not to be on the air somewhere.”
Esiason also highlighted the close relationship Carton has with his former WNEW producer Chris Oliviero, who was recently hired as the Entercom New York market manager. But if he does return to WFAN, don’t expect Carton to reunite with Esiason.
“Gregg, you came in and you basically kept this thing going,” Esiason told his current radio partner. “And we’re going to stay together, as long as I know, as long as you’ll have me and we’ll continue to do what we do. And hopefully Craigy someday will be able to get back doing what he does and does so well.”
Still, Giannotti agrees Carton is too talented not to get a second chance in radio.
“Where that’s going to be and when that’s going to be, I don’t know,” Gio said. “Of course, when you talk about this show and moving on, and me being here, it’s probably and most likely not going to be here. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be on the radio station years down the road somewhere else. Who knows? I don’t know. But I am happy that he’s out and I’m happy he’s going to get another opportunity.”
“He’s out. And he’s back,” Esiason said. “So here we go, Spank.”
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
