Boomer Esiason

Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason (born April 17, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals.

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.

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.

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.

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.

He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins and was selected in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft by the Bengals, where he spent 10 non-consecutive seasons.

Esiason was also a member of the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals.

Boomer graduated in 1984 with a B.A., and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999.

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, as 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.

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.

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 was also named to four Pro Bowls and one first-team All-Pro.

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.

Esiason was born and raised in East Islip, New York.

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, from whom he inherited his blond hair and blue eyes, died at the age of 37, of ovarian cancer when he was seven 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.

His father was of Norwegian and Swedish descent; grandmother Nora Ingrid Gulbrandsen was born in Norway and his grandfather Fritz Henning Esiason was born in Sweden.

His father was the cousin of Norwegian actress and singer Sølvi Wang.

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.