After the announcement that Craig Carton was leaving WFAN to focus on hosting The Carton Show on FOX Sports 1 on a full-time basis, listeners of the radio station began to think about the reaction from his colleagues. Boomer Esiason, who hosts the morning show on the station with Gregg Giannotti, was previously on-air partners with Carton. Their hit morning show was revamped when Carton was sentenced to time in federal prison for wire and securities fraud in 2017, and there have been rumors regarding acrimony in their relationship.
Before Andrew Marchand of the New York Post broke the story and Barrett Sports Media confirmed the news and learned of the special on-air announcement, Carton informed Esiason of his decision. Esiason knew it was weighing on him and was not surprised to hear the news. Additionally, he is glad that Carton will still be in the building on Thursdays to record his weekend program, Hello, My Name is Craig, raising awareness and destigmatizing compulsive gambling addiction.
“I just want him to be in a great place both financially and personally,” Esiason said. “You could see over the last six months that burning the candle on both ends was killing him. We like him to be around, sure, but he’s got to get that part of his life under control and he’s trying. That’s why I’m not surprised by any of this. It’s going to be a better life for him and it’s going to be a better life for his family, and that’s the most important thing.”
Giannotti quipped that Carton is leaving the station similarly to how PGA Tour golfers decided to take more remunerative contracts with LIV Golf with the promise of less work and more time with family. Nonetheless, he recognizes the unique position Carton was in and how the offer was simply too good to refuse at this stage in his life while owing money to people he afflicted in restitution.
“It stinks to lose somebody who has been so successful here at the radio station,” Giannotti said. “Especially again, not to be outdone by Mike Francesa, Craig Carton had to leave this place twice as well.”
Carton explained while on the air yesterday that the primary motivating factor behind the decision was to be able to spend more time with his family and be a better father to his children. Upon his release from prison, he was not immediately welcomed back into his home or permitted to regularly see his children. While he does not know the intent behind his previous decisions, he is trying to right the wrongs he has committed both professionally and personally.
For the last nine months, Carton has been working at WFAN without a contract as he considered the implications of continuing to work two jobs or choosing one. He expressed his gratitude to Audacy New York market president Chris Oliviero for granting him the opportunity to return to the station under a difficult set of circumstances and always being someone he can trust. Moreover, he apologized to Esiason, who recognizes the demonstrated effort Carton has shown to ensure he rebuilt a successful career.
“When I think about where we were in September of ‘17 to where he is now, that is an example of perseverance and overcoming adversity that maybe he created himself,” Esiason said. “But at the end of the day, he still owned up to it; had to pay for it, and now gets to start again somewhere else and do something a little bit more lucrative, but it also gives him a little bit more free time.”
Since his return, Carton and his partner Evan Roberts have dominated the afternoon ratings over rival sports talk radio station ESPN New York 98.7 and The Michael Kay Show. Now as reports have circulated about Tiki Barber moving out of middays to pair with Roberts, the morning show focused on the exit of their colleague and the alleviation it will give him.
“Seeing him yesterday, I know that he was down that this was happening,” Carton said, “but know that there [had] to be a sense of relief for him that he can get back to some sort of normalcy in his personal life.”
