Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason (; born April 17, 1961) is an American former National Football League (NFL) quarterback. He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins and was selected in the second round of the 1984 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, where he spent 10 seasons. Esiason was also a member of the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals.
Esiason's most successful season was in 1988 when he won NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) and led the Bengals to an appearance in Super Bowl XXIII, which ended in a close defeat. He also received four Pro Bowl selections and one first-team All-Pro honor. After nine years in Cincinnati, Esiason spent three seasons with the Jets and one season with the Cardinals before returning to the Bengals for his final season in 1997.
Since retiring from football, Esiason has worked as a football analyst for CBS Sports on The NFL Today and Showtime's Inside the NFL and was previously with ABC, HBO, and Westwood One. He also hosts the morning sports radio program Boomer and Gio on WFAN in New York.
Early life Esiason was born and raised in East Islip, New York.RepBuzz.com He got the "Boomer" nickname before he was born. His mother Irene, reacting to his constant kicking in the womb, called him "Boomer," and he has kept the name since. Irene, a singer, dancer and piano player, died at the age of 37, of ovarian cancer when he was six years old. His father Norman, a veteran of WWII, never remarried, and in spite of a three-hour daily commute to New York City raised Esiason and his two sisters.
He attended Timber Point Elementary and East Islip High School, where he graduated in 1979. In high school, he was a three-sport varsity player in football, basketball, and baseball.
College career Esiason played college football at the University of Maryland for head coaches Jerry Claiborne and Bobby Ross and offensive coordinator Ralph Friedgen. Maryland was the only college to offer him a scholarship. At Maryland, he set 17 school records. He completed 461 of 850 passes (54.2 percent) for 6,169 yards and 42 touchdowns with 27 interceptions. He 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. At Maryland, his backup and roommate was future NFL quarterback and head coach Frank Reich. Boomer graduated in December 1983 with a B.A. in Communications, and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999.
Professional football career Cincinnati Bengals (first stint) Esiason was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 1984 NFL draft with the 38th overall pick, surprisingly low considering his successful college career. ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. was, in Esiason's words, "going ballistic" that he was still available in the latter stages of the first round. No quarterbacks were drafted in the first round; Esiason was actually the first quarterback selected. (Steve Young had signed with the L.A. Express of the now-defunct United States Football League.) Esiason's USFL territorial rights were controlled by the Washington Federals, the worst team in the league.
Esiason's teammate from Maryland, defensive end Pete Koch, was taken by the Bengals with the 16th pick in the first round of the same draft. Koch lasted just one season in Cincinnati and five total in the NFL.
At 6'-5" and 224 pounds, and with a powerful arm, Esiason was the signal caller on one of the most potent offenses of the late 1980s.
Boomer got his first pro start on October 7, 1984, in a home game against the Houston Oilers. On a rainy day, he led the Bengals to a 13–3 win over Houston, and scored the game's only touchdown on a three-yard run. He took over for Ken Anderson as the Bengals' full-time starting quarterback on September 22, 1985, in a 44–41 home loss to the San Diego Chargers and future Hall of Famer Dan Fouts. Although well short of Anderson's rushing total of over 2,200 yards, Esiason was surprisingly mobile, rushing for 1,598 yards on 447 attempts and scoring seven touchdowns by this point in his career. He became particularly adept at running the difficult "no huddle" offense devised by Bengals head coach Sam Wyche.
On December 21, 1986, the final game of the 1986 season, Esiason set a team record by throwing five touchdown passes, as the Bengals defeated the New York Jets 52–21. He also set the team single season passing record of 3,959 yards in this game. It was the last game of Bengals' quarterback Ken Anderson's playing career.
After leading Cincinnati to six straight wins to begin the 1988 season, Esiason set a dismal single game team record on October 16 by throwing 5 interceptions in a 27–21 loss to the New England Patriots. The team finished the season 12–4, utilizing the highest scoring offense in the NFL, and securing the organization's fifth AFC Central division title. Esiason finished the season as the NFL's top rated passer. However, he had sprained his left ankle and the index finger on his throwing hand in the last regular-season game of the season. In the playoffs, Cincinnati, bolstered by rushing, defeated first the Seattle Seahawks and then the Buffalo Bills to reach Super Bowl XXIII, the franchise's second appearance in a Super Bowl (after Super Bowl XVI), as they faced off with the team they had lost to the first time around, the San Francisco 49ers.
The Super Bowl was a tight affair that saw a 3–3 halftime score, the first halftime tie in Super Bowl history. Still marred by a sore arm, Esiason threw for 144 yards on 11-of-25 passing with an interception. Cincinnati had their points come on a kickoff return by Stanford Jennings and three field goals by Jim Breech. Bengals cornerback Lewis Billups dropped what seemed like a sure interception in the end zone when they were up 13–6 on a drive that led to a San Francisco touchdown. Despite this, they led 16–13 with three minutes remaining and San Francisco deep in their own territory. The 49ers, led by future Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, marched 92 yards on their last drive, scoring on a touchdown pass to receiver John Taylor with 34 seconds remaining in the game. A last-ditch pass by Esiason to wide receiver Cris Collinsworth was broken up, resulting in a 20–16 loss for the Bengals.
On October 29, 1989, Esiason tied his own record for touchdown passes in a game with five, as the Bengals demolished the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 56–23. In that same game, the Bengals tied a team record with eight touchdowns.
On October 7, 1990, he threw for 490 yards (a single game team passing record) in a 34–31 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
New York Jets Before the 1993 season, Esiason was traded to his hometown team, the New York Jets, in exchange for a third round pick that year (which became linebacker Steve Tovar) as well as a conditional second round pick the following year (which did not kick in). The trade reunited Esiason with Bruce Coslet, Esiason's mentor as offensive coordinator in Cincinnati, who had been hired by the Jets' to be their head coach after the Bengals 1988 Super Bowl run. Esiason played three seasons for the Jets, each year under a different head coach: Coslet (1993), Pete Carroll (1994), and Rich Kotite (1995). During his 1995 season with the team, Esiason was seriously injured in a game 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 face mask. Smith was terribly upset about Esiason's injury, saying that he hadn't heard a whistle blowing the play dead, and Esiason blamed the officials for not whistling until after Smith made contact. That horrific collision gave Esiason a severe concussion, his first as a player. When he returned to the field over a month later, it was coincidentally against the Bills.
Esiason was released by the Jets after the 1995 season.
Arizona Cardinals Esiason signed with the Arizona Cardinals as a free agent in 1996. It was during this season, on November 10, 1996, that he threw for the fifth best passing yardage day in NFL history, with 522 yards in a 37–34 overtime victory over the Washington Redskins. Two weeks later he led a fourth-quarter comeback against the playoff-bound Philadelphia Eagles.
Cincinnati Bengals (second stint) Esiason contemplated retirement in the offseason, but was talked into playing one more season with the Bengals, now with Coslet as coach. He was effective after replacing Jeff Blake midway through the 1997 campaign, throwing for 13 touchdowns against only two interceptions, and garnering a passer rating of 106.9 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 in a 41–14 win over the Tennessee Oilers. Esiason debated closely for playing in 1998, since he liked playing for Coslet and quarterbacks coach Ken Anderson, stating that a contract offer good enough for him to not refuse would've turned the table for him to return, as he was offered an analyst's position on ABC's Monday Night Football for the third year in a row.
On December 21, 1997, Esiason played his last NFL game. He threw two touchdowns on the day, with a 79-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Darnay Scott being his last touchdown pass in a 16–14 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
NFL career statistics Legend AP NFL MVP Led the league Bold Career high
Year Team Games Passing GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Lng Rtg 1984 CIN 10 4 3–1 51 102 50.0 530 5.2 3 3 6 62.9 1985 CIN 15 14 7–7 251 431 58.2 3,443 9.0 27 12 68 93.2 1986 CIN 16 16 10–6 273 469 58.2 3,959 8.4 24 17 57 87.7 1987 CIN 12 12 3–9 240 440 54.5 3,321 7.5 16 19 61 73.11988 CIN 16 16 12–4 223 388 57.5 3,572 9.2 28 14 86 97.4 1989 CIN 16 15 7–8 258 455 56.7 3,525 7.8 28 11 74 92.1 1990 CIN 16 16 9–7 224 402 55.7 3,031 7.5 24 22 53 77.0 1991 CIN 14 14 3–11 233 413 56.4 2,883 7.0 13 16 53 72.5 1992 CIN 12 11 4–7 144 278 51.8 1,407 5.1 11 15 38 57.0 1993 NYJ 16 16 8–8 288 473 60.9 3,421 7.2 16 11 77 84.5 1994 NYJ 15 14 5–9 255 440 58.0 2,782 6.3 17 13 69 77.3 1995 NYJ 12 12 2–10 221 389 56.8 2,275 5.8 16 15 43 71.4 1996 ARI 10 8 3–5 190 339 56.0 2,293 6.8 11 14 64 70.6 1997 CIN 7 5 4–1 118 186 63.4 1,478 8.0 13 2 77 106.9 Career 187 173 80–93 2,969 5,205 57.0 37,920 7.3 247 184 86 81.1
Records and honors Esiason was named to four Pro Bowl 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). He also led the AFC in passing in both 1988 and 1989.
Among the awards he has earned during his career include the NFL Most Valuable Player Award in 1988 (leading the league with a passer rating of 97.4), and the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 1995 for his charitable work. At his retirement in 1997 he finished in the top 10 all-time in many QB career statistical categories.
Football Nation ranks him as the 25th greatest quarterback of the post-merger era.
Esiason was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame in the Football Category with the Class of 1990. In 2004, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2023, the Bengals inducted Esiason into their Ring of Honor.
Entertainment career
Television, film and literature Esiason has appeared in over 25 commercials including ones for Diet Coke, Wheaties, Reebok, Samsung, Hanes, Doritos and Domino's Pizza. He has also appeared in many TV shows and movies, such as The Game Plan, Miss America 1999, Spin City, and Blue Bloods among others.