Craig Carton dropped by the WFAN morning show on Tuesday with a surprise for his former co-host Boomer Esiason.
Carton somehow had Esiason’s game-worn jersey from the 1994 Pro Bowl. Apparently, it was missing but Boomer didn’t even realize it. (He apparently had very little affection for the jersey with No. 8, rather than Esiason’s No. 7. Boomer wore No. 8 for the AFC Pro Bowl squad that year because John Elway had No. 7.)
But how did Carton get the jersey? He read a letter on the air from a man writing on behalf of his wife, whose father was a baggage handler on the ground crew for American Airlines. In 1994, he was working at JFK Airport in New York when a flight arrived from Honolulu. A big sports fan, he stole Esiason’s Pro Bowl jersey from the quarterback’s luggage.
Following the man’s death, his wife and son attempted to return the jersey to Esiason in 2018 through WFAN. But producers didn’t believe the woman’s story. Esiason’s representatives said that all memorabilia from his career was accounted for and he wasn’t missing a jersey.
Upon hearing this from Carton, Esiason agreed. He wasn’t missing a jersey from his career. And that’s when Carton took the game-worn, white No. 8 Pro Bowl jersey from a box. Carton joked that bidding for the piece of game memorabilia started at $100. But even when Esiason confirmed that the “cheap-ass jersey from back then” was real, he didn’t want it.
So where could the rare No. 8 Boomer Esiason jersey end up? Will it hang in the Boomer & Gio studio? Will Carton take it for his show with Evan Roberts? Might Jerry Recco swipe it? Esiason said he’ll probably give it to his son, Gunner. But Carton might just end up sending it back to the woman so she can hang it up again in her home, maybe as a tribute to her husband. Stay tuned!
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
What a great way to start the day, Craig Carton is still the best I ever listened to.. outside Al Eschbach, WWLS Sports animal, OKCity. Al was a New Yorker, came to The University of Oklahoma in early 70s and has since become a Broadcast legend in Oklahoma.. Had he stayed in NYC Market you would have had Carton 50 years ago!! We were the Lucky ones.