The Tuesday after Labor Day is a natural embarkation point for sports shows, with the NFL season quickly approaching, college football underway, the day generally marks the end of summer and the beginning of a new season. The day also holds importance to WFAN morning show host Boomer Esiason, who began doing mornings on the station the day after Labor Day in 2007.
Esiason originally started in morning drive with Craig Carton, and according to the former NFL quarterback, no one thought the pair would last.
“It was a beginning that nobody thought was gonna last six months let alone 16 years,” Esiason said. “I remember there was a lot of consternation about whether a former athlete would get up and do this show and do it with a guy who he’d never worked with before but was basically a loudmouth as he wrote about in his book. We found our rhythm about six months in and it was a quick 10 years for sure, and now it’s been an even quicker five years with you,” Esiason told current co-host Gregg Giannotti.
“I sat back and I thought about it last night. I’m gonna come in tomorrow morning and announce my retirement. Screw this,” joked Esiason.
He then went on to point out the similarities in his first day to today, as the New York Mets held a seven game lead with 17 games to play in 2007 on his first day on the job, which they eventually squandered. Today, the Mets have just a one game lead on the Braves in the National League East after having as much as a 10-and-a-half game lead. But Esiason added he still enjoys getting the opportunity to talk about the daily happenings in the sports world.
“16 years. It’s been great. It’s been absolutely great. Every morning getting up and doing this job, it can be fatigue set it, but it’s still great to be able to talk about things first the next morning after a lot has happened.”
