Episode 363: Boomer Esiason

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
You're listening to the Mike the New Even podcast hosted
by media personality and consultant Mike Cologne. In a sense,

(00:42):
this episode is kind of full circle because as I
was telling the guest off the air, who will introduce
momentarily the name of the show, and the audience knows
this is Miked in New Haven, which was inspired by
the days in which I used to call w F
an Joe and Evan. Of course, Mike Francessa as Mike
and New Haven Steve Summers I called as well, and
Boomer and Carton so back in the old days. So

(01:04):
that is kind of what kickstarted this and episode one
all those years ago, back in twenty seventeen, when I
started this thing, was Mike Francessa and today another current
wfan host Mike's alumni of fan. This guy's still going
strong since two thousand and seven. Just a quick note
if you haven't checked out the previous episode that was
a volume seventeen of the Beat Profiles of Police nation Wide,

(01:24):
paying tribute to our late friend Miles Son, who was
a guest at this program multiple times, was a retired
inspector with the US Customs Agency. We lost him to
complications of blood clot last year, so we were able
to remember his wonderful life. Really, if you wrote a movie,
people wouldn't believe it. The guy did a lot, so
it was nice to pay tribute to him. Like I said,
won't keep my guests waiting long. I'm really excited about

(01:44):
this one. We'll just do our ad real quick. And
that is, of course, retired NYPD Detective Billy Ryan of
the Ryan Investigating Group The Mike.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Thing You Have.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
The podcast is proudly sponsored and supported by the Ryan
Investigative Group. If you need an elite PI, look no
further than the elite Ryan invested Ggative Group, which is
run by retired NYP Detective Bill Ryan, a twenty year
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anything from fraud, legal services, and anything else that you

(02:14):
might require, contact Bill at three four seven four one
seven sixteen ten Again three four seven four one seven
sixteen ten. Reach him at his website or the email
that you see here. Again, if you need a PI,
look no further than Bill Ryan. And the Ryan Investigative Group.
A proud supporter and sponsor of the Mike Den Newhaven Podcast.
Proud supporter indeed, love my friend Billy. All Right, My

(02:35):
next guest is a man who has worn many hats
over the course of career that's taken him from the
gridiron to the broadcast booth to the radio. A native
Long Islander, which we'll talk about, spent thirteen seasons in
the NFL, the highlight of his career being winning the
MVP as quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals nineteen eighty eight season.
Rather also took the Cincinnati Bengals to a Super Bowl.
Since his playing days concluded in nineteen ninety seven, he

(02:57):
took to the booth, briefly serving as a color analyst
for Monday Night Football on ABC and broadcasting a record
nineteen consecutive Super Bowls for Westwood One Radio. He didn't
have an easy task in two thousand and seven, succeeding
a legend in Don Imis, but he's done well with it,
and he's still on the air at WFAN Sports Radio
sixty six in New York City as host of First
Boomer and Carton. From two thousand and seven to twenty

(03:18):
seventeen and since twenty seventeen Boomer and Geo, which airs
on Fan and a simulcast daily on the CBS Sports
Network on television. And that, of course is mister Boomer size.
We welcome out to the Mike the Gaven Podcast, Boomer.
Nice to reunite with you. Like I said, I used
to call you.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
You know, I recognize the voice, and now I know
who Mike and Nehaven is. And I love the poster
behind your head, so you're thinking my way. And I
know you love the Rangers just like I do. So
I'm more than happy to be here with you this morning. Mike.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
Oh, thank you very much for making the time. Like
I said, I know you're a busy guy. So you're
an East Icelip guy. Take me through growing up on
Long Island and growing up with the father who worked
hard at seemingly and still the same work ethic and you.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, Well, my dad was a World War Two vet.
He spends sixteen months in theater in Europe during World
War Two, and probably some of the worst things that
he saw were at the end of World War Two,
the revenge killings of some of the things that you know,
he would bring back home with him, and he very
rarely ever talked about it. And I had two older sisters.
He bought a house in nineteen fifty nine for seventeen

(04:17):
thousand dollars right on the outskirts of Hexher Park and
East Islap. My two older sisters were eight nine years
older than me at the age of seven. The love
of his life, my mom, Irene, unfortunately passed away from cancer,
and you know, I don't have many memories of her,
but what I do remember most is my father basically

(04:37):
sacrificed his entire life for me and my two sisters,
and also his father, my grandfather, who ended up spending
I think like the last six or seven years living
with us in East Islip. So it wasn't easy for him.
Nothing was ever easy for him, nothing that was ever
given to him. He fought like a like an American
soldier would fight in World War Two. He was very

(04:59):
much involved and a lot of the action. How he
made it out to this day he you know, he
didn't know before he died in ninety nine, And I
remember my son Gunner, who at the time was eight
years old, was asking him a million questions about World
War Two. And these are stories I had never heard
before because he never shared much of it with me.
But what I did see as I saw an undeniable

(05:20):
work ethic, somebody that to his cores, had high ethics,
had a lot of friends and a lot of respect.
So if I could be half the man he was,
I always said about myself, then I would consider myself
a success.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
And he as a working man. I believe he had
a three hour commute into the city in addition to
raising a family.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, you know, it's crazy. We lived in East Islips,
so he would take I think the Babylonline train, the
Long Island Railroad. He would go into Lower Manhattan. He
worked for a company called Continental Insurance. He was an
insurance inspector. He was an engineer by trade, and he
would inspect buildings that were being built at the time.
And I think he was a part of the OSHA files,

(06:01):
that was the Occupational Safety and Health Acts that came
out of the seventies. I believe. I think he was
part of that when he was working for Continental Insurance.
And I'll never forget one of the projects that he
was working on. And this is where my love of
the Rangers and the Knicks came from was Madison Square
Garden as we know it today. So in nineteen sixty

(06:21):
eight that building opened and his company was fortunate enough
to have some tickets and we would go back into
the city and go watch Ranger and Nick games, maybe
about four or five a year, and that's when I
fell first in love with rod Joel bhar in the
game of hockey. But unfortunately we couldn't afford it, and
hockey wasn't nearly what football, baseball and basketball were when
I was growing up in East Island.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
So tell me, I guess in line with that, we're
talking with Boomer Size and here on the Mike the
New Even podcast. If you have a question, the chat
fire away. Of course, tell me where the interest in
athletics be. I mean from watching it is one thing,
but the desire to play it yourself. Where did that start?

Speaker 2 (06:55):
It came from him?

Speaker 3 (06:56):
You know.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
I remember as a young man, I mean really young,
I was a young kid, should say four or five
years old. You know, He'd be pitching to me, I'd
be hitting. I'd be pitching back to him. We would
throw the football around. I remember one of my first
Christmas gifts and I think was probably somewhere when I
was around four or five was a plastic wiffle ball

(07:17):
football and I could whip that thing all over the backyard.
So my dad knew that I could throw, he knew
that I could hit. And you know, back then, there
was no baseball or football or flag football until you
turn nine years of age, and that's when Little League started.
And I do remember the first Little League tryout that
I had, and this is where they draft the new

(07:38):
players coming into the league, and I just killed it.
I just I was hitting the ball all over the
gymnasium at East is Of High School and next thing
I know, I was the first pick in the I
guess it would probably be the nineteen seventy Little League
draft of the ilips for the Indians of all teams.
So that's where it all started for me, and my

(07:59):
love of baseball, basketball and football was definitely driven by
my close relationship with my dad.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
Of course, you ended up playing in the NFL. But
was there a desire before the NFL to ultimately be
a major leaguer in baseball or basketball or did you
always have your sit set, particularly on football.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
I really had no idea. I mean I was good
at all three sports. I was great in baseball, I
will say that, and I played the most important position
in football. I had a great high school football and
baseball coach. They were the same man in his name
was Sal Champion, who was like a second father to me.
And this is back in the days in the seventies
where dad supported the coaches. They weren't screaming and yelling

(08:35):
at the coaches, and everybody admired Sal. Sal was a
football star himself at Lawrence High School, then got a
scholarship to Purdue and was the captain of the Boiler
Meercer team and his quarterback was Bob Greasy. So Sal
brought a lot of what he learned at Purdue back
to East icel Up and created a really cool environment

(08:59):
for young men, especially young men that you know whose
dads were World War two vettes, or some guys didn't
have dads. You know, some people came from broken homes.
And he was like our second father. And all the
dads and he was back in the day, all supported
the coach. They all loved him because he was tough
on us. And that's what dads really want. They want

(09:20):
a toughness that is going to be bestowed upon you.
And if I didn't have sal in my life, there's
no way that I would have ever gotten to where
I had gotten to. But for me, I thought I
was going to be a baseball player. I thought I
was going to go to Saint John's and I was
going to pitch on the same staff of as Frank
Viola and John Franco. But instead Maryland got in the
way and they offered me a scholarship to go play football,

(09:42):
the only scholarship offer that I got, and for some reason,
I decided to take that. I don't even know what
I was signing back then, in nineteen seventy I think
it was nineteen seventy nine. I'd signed a letter of intent,
not even knowing what it was. And then my high
school coach called my dad at home. I said, your
son just got a scholarship to the University of Maryland
to go play for football. And I thought that was
pretty cool and great until I got there, and I

(10:03):
was eleventh string on the depth chart.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
Nevertheless, getting there, though, you had Jerry Claiborne and Bobby
Ross as your head coaches, So I mean, listen, even
if you don't play a lot eventually, I'm sure you did.
It's the lessons from these coaches that shape you not
only as a player, but, as we were talking about
with sal, shape you as a man. When you look
back at Jerry and Bobby in particular, especially with what
would come later, what are the best lessons you feel
you've learned from those guys.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Well, Jerry was a Southern Baptist. He never cussed, he
never but he was demanding. And you ran an antiquated
offense for us, and the offense that we ran, we'd
have to pitch it to the half back and lead
around the corner as one of the lead blockers with
the full back. You know, and back in those days
in the ACC, you know, Lawrence Taylor was out there,
the Perry Brothers at Clemson. I mean, you know, what

(10:49):
did we nuts? So they treated quarterbacks like they would
treat a linebacker. And you know, I was kind of
in a bubble in high school because I think my
coach was afraid that I would get hurt and then
what would happen to the team. I mean, we had
a really good team. We were a championship team, so
he always kind of protected me. Don't run with the ball,
we're only going to throw the ball about ten times.

(11:10):
So it was really interesting that Marylynd actually wanted me
to come there and play quarterback. And then when I
got there, I understanded why because they thought that I
was big enough and I was strong enough to be
able to handle the offense that we were running. And
it took two years, well actually three years until I
actually got on the field, and I almost got kicked
out of school. And you know, there's so many stories
that you know, young Boomer was very rambunctious to say

(11:34):
the least, and was a big paint in the ass
to most people around him. So as they speak of
myself and the third person, I realized that, you know,
you got to if you really want to become successful,
it's something you got to really desire it. You got
to love it, and you got to really want it
bad enough to sacrifice everything in your life. And thankfully
for me, I was able to replace a couple guys,

(11:55):
and my initial success showed that I could play. And
then of course Bob Ross comes in my last two
years and brings a pro style offense, and now finally
I get to show my arm strength that I had
when I was a pitcher in baseball, and my career
took off my last two years under Ralph Frigan as
an offensive coordinator, Bobby Ross as the head coach, and
Joe Kreeback as our quarterback coach. You couldn't ask for

(12:17):
more experienced people to teach you how to play the
game of quarterback at that level, with that kind of
passing attack.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
And the second ways of course into getting into the
NFL now, of course, it's a major step forward, obviously,
and this is something that no matter the sport that
you desire when you're younger, a lot of people dream about,
not a lot of people achieved. It doesn't matter how
long you play for, just to get there as an
accomplishment in and up itself. So being in the draft
and ultimately when Cincinnati called your name, take me through,

(12:48):
especially with how you describe your childhood earlier and growing
up with your father and of course losing your mother
at an early age. Take me through what your emotions
were in that moment for such an accomplishment like that.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, you know, I was really disappointed in my drafty.
I thought I was going to be a top five pick.
But all of us players think that we're going to
be top five picks or we should be top five picks,
and so to our family members and the people around us.
And my story on draft day was very disappointing. You know,
mel Kiper has made a living off of my name,
which is fine, because he was defending me like he
was defending the Shador Sanders this year. And every time

(13:21):
that he gets into a position where he's defending a quarterback,
they go back to the nineteen eighty four draft and
there he is saying, how come nobody's taking Boomera size
and what's wrong with this league? They don't know what
they're doing. Well, there were a lot of things that
were going on back then the USFL was in place.
They were stealing quarterbacks like Jim Kelly and Steve Young.
I think people thought maybe the generals who were owned

(13:42):
by Donald Trump were going to come after me, but
they ended up ultimately going after herschel Walker and I
think Doug Flutie. So I didn't fit in their plans.
And I even held a press conference saying I don't
want to go to the USFL. I'm not rooting for
the Memphis Showboats my entire life. You know, I was
actually a Burt Jones fan. I love the Baltimore call.
It's because of Burt Jones and the way he played,
and that's how I tried to model myself as a quarterback.

(14:05):
So my agent at the time was not very happy.
And that agent was named David Falk, and David Falk
went on to become the agent of Michael Jordan and
Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson and Dominique Wilkins and all
these great basketball players and me and James Lofton, where
I think his two football clients. And I'll never forget.
He said to me. He goes booming. You just took
away all your leverage, I said, but I want to

(14:27):
play in the NFL. David, you don't understand. You're you're
you know you're you're a lawyer, you're an agent. You
love athletes. I love athletes. My dream is to play
in the NFL at this point. So I'm going out
there telling everybody forget me in the USFL. I do
not want to play for any of these teams. And
maybe that hurt me a little bit, I don't know,
but I dropped to the second round. Sam Wish called me,

(14:49):
and Sam Wish, by the way, was the only head
coach in the NFL that I spent time with personally,
and it was at my high school on a blustery
March day where he and I are out there playing
catch and I remember I was throwing the ball so
hard that I actually ripped his hand open, and he goes, well,
you certainly have the arm strength, that's for sure. And

(15:09):
then when he called me, he said, hey, Boomery, how
would you like to be a Cincinnati Bengal. I said,
I thought you lost my number. And so it turned
out that I ended up in Cincinnati, which it really
was the best thing for me because they had Kenny
Anderson and Turk Schoenert as their quarterbacks and Kenny's career
was winding down, and Sam was a rookie head coach
who had come from working with Bill Walsh out in

(15:32):
San Francisco with Joe Montana. So I was plucked out
of the second round and put right into Cincinnati, and
it worked out well with those three men kind of
nursing me along my first year until I took over.
My second year.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
Year debutultimately came against the Houston Oilers at the time,
so again, you know, a flat of Houston.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
Oil was Jerry Glanville. Oh my god, he was all
about killing the quarterback. I mean, I really, I literally
I pooped in my pants before the game. I was
so nervous, and I had no idea what I was
getting into. And back in those days, we had just
a brutal rivalry with the Houston Oilers. They had Warren Moon.
Of course we had Kenny Anderson at the time. But

(16:14):
then I finally took over the next year. But that
first game, I'm telling you, Mike, I had no idea
what I was doing. And this is why when I
talk about young quarterbacks now, I walked the mile on
their shoes, so I know what they're dealing with and
I know the expectations. Thank god, I didn't have social
media rattling around in my head when I was failing,
because we won the game, but I didn't do anything

(16:37):
spectacular that game. They were trying to just win the
game with defense in a running game, and every now
and then asked me to throw a pass or run
with the ball somehow, and I got through it. But
I swear to God to you, I had no idea
what I was getting myself into and how hard it
was going.

Speaker 1 (16:51):
To be I will go back for a second in
New Yorker, I mean grew up on Long Island to
go to Ohio, be to the Midwest, I mean eventually
got you. So you spent eight years of your thirteen
year career out there, and you had two states, not
just one with Cincinnati. But was there a little bit
of culture shock at first?

Speaker 4 (17:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yes, yes. As a matter of fact, they did not
have Boar's Heads, so I had to make sure that
the local deli outside of where I was living ordered
Boor'shead into Cincinnati. And not knowing at the time that
Cincinnati was known as Porkopolis. You had a lot of
meat branding companies there and manufacturing companies, and the last
thing they wanted is the quarterback of the Bengals talking
about Borshead in Cincinnati, Ohio. So that was a little

(17:31):
bit of a wake up call. But to this day,
I'm very proud to say that I feel like I
bought brought Bor'shead to the midi of Midwest, because now
everybody carries it in Cincinnati, of course. So yeah, it
was a little bit of a culture shock. It's a
great city, it's a small Midwestern city, it's a lot
like Pittsburgh. It's Cleveland, it's Detroit, it's Minneapolis. They're all

(17:55):
very very similar. Great places to live, great people, huge,
great fans, and you know, when you're winning, and we
were winning from eighty five to ninety two, the Bengal
fan was just awesome to play in front of.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
And of course there was that run to the Super
Bowl around eighty seven eighty eight, and just again you
have the city behind you. There's a fever too. And
this is a time when the rents were pretty good.
Barry Larkin was starting to come around at this time.
Eric Davis was going good at this time before the
injuries got him. Paul O'Neill, who of course came to
New York like you did, eventually was there as well.
But nevertheless it was a football town for a little while.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
It was, well, Ohio is a football state. I mean
it's you know, it's like Texas is Florida, it's California.
I know, hod of great basketball players and you know,
baseball players come out of all these states. But Ohio,
you know, it's the birthplace of football. You got Canton,
Ohio there, you got the Hall of Fame there, the
Cleveland Browns who were one of the most successful franchises
in the fifties and sixties under Paul Brown, who ultimately

(18:50):
ended up getting fired by Art Modell from the Browns
and then founded the Bengals in nineteen sixty nine. So
there was a, you know, a branded rivalry between US
and Cleveland, Austin, Pittsburgh. I mean, the whole region really
is a football region first and foremost. But yeah, I
do remember that. You know what people forget is in
nineteen eighty seven, we were on the NFL player strike,

(19:13):
and the strike took place after Week two of the
nineteen eighty seven season. That summer of eighty seven, I
signed my second contract, and lo and behold, the Bengals
gave me the largest contract in NFL history at that time.
It was five years, six million dollars, so I was
making one point two million, seventy five thousand dollars a game,
and lo and behold, I was also the NFLPA player

(19:36):
rep for the Bengals. So I think what they were
trying to do is recognize how good I was playing
for them in eighty five and eighty six, and it
was time to do a deal, which was great, but
I think they also try to temper my my intensity
for the union and fighting for the players. And maybe
if they had the highest paid player who was a
union rep, maybe that guy would go in there and

(19:59):
try to talk player had a strike, striking and all
that other stuff. But the reverse happened. It became even
more intense, and I became even more intense, to the
to the point where once the eighty seven season finally
was ended and we were four and eleven that year,
because the team only played fifteen games and that's where
the three games that were played by the replacement players,

(20:20):
it got really ugly in Cincinnati, got really intense between
me and the head coach, me and the ownership, and
they couldn't buy me off, and I wanted to stand
up for the players. And to this day, I still
feel like I did all the right things, even though
some of it was a little wacky. I sat down
in front of a bus and there was a picture
in the front page of the Cincinnati Enquirer. You know,

(20:40):
you would think this was nineteen sixty nine and we were,
you know, protesting the Vietnam War something. That was the
feeling around it, and it was intense for US players.
But I wanted my players, our players to know that
I'm fighting for them. And that's what led to really
because eighty seven was our best team on paper, but
that's really led to the eighty eight success. I believe

(21:02):
we were really close, and our head coach, for some reason,
thought that there was a a racial schism on our
team when there wasn't. So when we came back to
the eighty eight season and we went to training camp
at Wilmington, Ohio, he would room black and white player,
offensive and defensive player, and I'm like, I don't know
why you're doing this. I mean, our team is as

(21:23):
close as any team I've ever been on, and I
saw it through the strike, how we all fought through
it together. There might have been four or five guys
that crossed the picket line at the time then that
was intense. But that's what fueled the success that we
had for in nineteen eighty eight.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
I believe, of course, because I'm about to say, I mean,
it would have been easy. As it's funny to look
at that contract compared to the contracts we see across
all sports now. Back then, you know that's talk about
a bargain. But nevertheless, you know at that time, it
would have been easy, as you said, being the highest
paid player to calm down. Most guys in your shoes
would have calmed down and said, okay, well I got mines.
It wasn't about just getting yours, he said, it was

(22:00):
about doing the right thing. And when guys saw that,
they get helped the dice around you.

Speaker 2 (22:04):
Well, it's it's the bigger picture of the argument. And
I don't necessarily know the NFLPA did us any justice
at the time, and I still reflect back on those
days and I think it's failed leadership without question. You
can't say that when you look at the players today
and how they're doing. But you know, we're talking forty
years ago, so I mean, or thirty eight years ago

(22:24):
to be specific. So I don't I don't regret any
of that stuff. And I just think, you know, at
it coming out of the eighty seven season, if we
would have had social media, the Bengal fan would have
ran me out of town because I was I was,
you know, the example of a high priced athlete who
wanted more, and so I was boxed in politically for sure.

(22:47):
And I knew that at the time. I knew and
I remember telling you know my teammates. I say, guys,
if I'm going to go out there and five for
your guys, I need your unbridled support. And most of them,
if not all of them, gave it to me because
they knew that I was the highest paid player, I
was losing the most, and I even lended. I even
lent some money to a few of my teammates who

(23:08):
were in really dire straits because they needed their paychecks
at that time because they weren't making that much money.
So I was a public enemy number one in Cincinnati
for sure. Mike in the eighty seven and then in
eighty eight, we got off to a great start. I
think we won our first seven games, and whatever happened
the year before. This is why I always say winning
cures everything, because I've liveded and all of a sudden,

(23:30):
Boomer is back. Boomer's here, Boomers great again, and do
a large part, I think to the galvanizing of our
team the year before.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
And he did everything you could in that game. I
know your arm was bothering you in that game. It
was sore, but you pushed through it. He threw well,
and ultimately, I mean when I watched the Bengals excuse
me not the Bengals and the Bills, the Chiefs and
the Bills a couple of years ago, and the thirteen
seconds from Mahomes, I thought back to you, because here's
just he did everything right. You put him in a
position to win. Any other quarterback with that little time

(24:00):
left wouldn't have been able to go down the field.
But then there's Joe Montana. So nevertheless, for as heartbreaking
as it was, getting there as an accomplishment, take me
through that run and even though it didn't end well,
your fondest memories overall such a great scene.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
Well, my fondest memories were getting there and beating Buffalo
and the AFC championship BAM, and I remember running off
the field in the arms of my backup quarterback at
that time. His name was Mike Norseth. I think Turk
was on that team as well. So we had three
quarterbacks who had a great quarterback room and we were
all really really close with one another. And just coming
out of eighty seven to actually turning it around to

(24:37):
where now we're going to the super Bowl was remarkable.
And how my life had changed significantly at that time,
and I didn't have any kids, I was living life
free and free, care free. I should say everything was great.
I got married the year before. It was just a great,
great time in my life. And to have my dad

(24:58):
be a part of it, to have my high school
coach to be a part of it, my sisters to
be a part of it. You know, that's the part
that nobody sees, the behind the scenes stuff of all
the people that have been in your life to get
you to where you are. I mean, you have to
make it on your own, there's no question about that,
but there are going to be those down days where
those people that you love the most are going to
be right there helping you along the way. And that's

(25:19):
that's the greatest part about making it to the super Bowl.
I only did it once. You think you're going to
do it, like multiple times, and then you realize as
your career goes on, there are a lot of decisions
that are made that are out of your control that
unfortunately adversely affect either the team or you individually. And
then you realize that, you know, this is a man,

(25:39):
This is really hard to do, and that's why I
have so much respect for like what Tom Brady did
with the Patriots. I mean, and so much respect for
what Troy Aikman did with the Cowboys and Terry Bradshaw
did with the Steelers. I mean, people don't realize how
many things have got to go right for you. I
could say the same thing about Patrick Mahomes and Reid

(26:00):
John Harball. I have to think about how much he
and Lamar Jackson have won together. Or you know McDermott
coach McDermott and Josh Allen. They have won, they have won,
they have won, but they just have not gotten to
the Super Bowl. And that's how hard it really is.
That so that those superstar coaches and superstar players have
never been there.

Speaker 1 (26:20):
Right, No, it's not an easy and even to a
lesser extent. Ben Roethlisberger with the Steelers, you know who
was able to win a couple championships in his own right,
he got to three Super Bowls super Bowls. Overall, it's
not an easy thing to do. I mean, I think
of Aaron Rodgers, right, one of the greatest quarterbacks to
ever pick up a football, only got to one super Bowl,
only won one. Hey listen, he got one, but nevertheless

(26:41):
that was twenty ten. He hasn't been back since. Think
about the amount of winning he's done in his career.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
Yeah, it's crazy, and you know, but that's what makes
it so sweet when you win, because now they have
to play seventeen regular season games. If you're a wild
card team like the Giants were back in two thousand
and seven, you know, right, and you go all the
way and you beat an undefeated Patriot team in two
thousand and seven. You know, I think back because that
was the first year that I started with Craig Carton

(27:07):
on WFN, and I remember vividly how Giant fans were
discussed halfway through the season with both Tom Coffin and
Eli Manning. You know, people have selective memory, and I
remember this the first year I started. I'm like, I'm
defending Eli Manning on the radio, and he's I think
he's been this is either a second or third year,
and people had enough already. I'm like, you know, I

(27:29):
think if his career would have started today and it
started out the way that it did, I don't necessarily
know that he would have made it to the Super
Bowl year. And I just I just remember how just fans,
you know, they want winners, and that it doesn't matter
if you're a good person, a bad person, Just give
me a winner. I want to show up and I
want to see my team win. That's how much pride
I have that in that uniform and the fact that

(27:51):
they both made it to that point and were able
to turn their season around and up end Bill Belichick
and the undefeated Patriots is probably the single greatest upset
run that I've ever seen as an adult athlete fan
as a kid fan, I don't ever remember anything being

(28:12):
so spectacular then that run.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
There, No, And I've gotten the chance to see both
Giant Super Bowls and of course the Yankee World Series
in two thousand and nine. That's my favorite championship of
the bunch of the three that I've seen. That easily
for that for exactly what you just mentioned, ranks number one.
And I'm going to get to your broadcasting career with
f An in a moment, but I'm going to segue
back to nineteen ninety seven. You come home to New
York as a jet for a couple of seasons, you

(28:34):
play one season in Arizona, you go back to Cincinnati,
finish things up in ninety seven. You know, the NFL
is one of few jobs in the world where you
retire and you still have to pick another job. Yes,
you know. So with that being said, tell me about
getting the broadcasting bug and being able to eventually reinvent
yourself after a successful thirteen year career.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
You know, I had the broadcasting bug when I was
in college. I had an emphasis in radio, television and
film at the University of Maryland, and for two years
I interned at w JZTV in Baltimore, and I worked
for Gail Gardner. She was a sports reporter, and Keith
Mills was the producer at Channel thirteen in Baltimore. Also
on that staff there, but not as a sports reporter,
just as an everyday reporter. Was Oprah Winfrey. So I

(29:16):
got to meet her when she was that's how old
I am. But I got to meet her there, and
you know, she was just a report. She didn't ascend
until probably ten years later to greater heights than any
of us could have ever imagined. But so I was
in that industry when I was in Maryland and I
as being the starting quarterback. I was always in front

(29:36):
of the camera. I always had a microphone in front
of me because I would give a good quote. I
wouldn't hide anything. I would say things I would obviously
make people like Mike Wilbon, who he was the first
guy that I covered for when he was working for
the Washington Post at the University of Maryland. I made
his job so easy, and I told him, look at you,
You're a big star now, all because I taught you
how to do this and you were covering me when

(29:58):
I was at the University of Maryland. Yeah. So I've
always been around it, and even when I was playing.
In my playing days, I want to say ninety one
and ninety two or ninety ninety and ninety one, there
was an entity called the World League of American Football
the WLAF, and they had just and they'd been back.
They were back by the NFL, and they signed a
huge deal with the USA Network and the USA Network,

(30:21):
much like what happens today, when a network that's not
used to televising a particular sport, what do they do?
They ask one of these other networks if they could
use their behind the scenes equipment, the people, the producers,
and the directors. So USA Football had Monday Night Football
and I was selected to be the analyst in the offseason,

(30:41):
and I worked with Brad Nessler and Michael Barcand from Philadelphia,
and the producer and director that I worked with for
two years on Monday Night Football on USA was Ken
Wolf and Craig Janoff, who subsequently also during the football
season with a producer and director for ABC Monday Night Football.
So that's how I got to know those guys, and
those guys got to know me and the way that

(31:03):
I would broadcast. And in nineteen ninety six, they after
I was done with the Cardinals, they asked me if
I wanted the job then, and I said no, and
I wanted to play one more year, and that's when
I went back to Cincy. And then after my run
in Cincinnati, the Bengals wanted me back. They wanted to
give me a two year deal, and ABC came knocking
one more time and they said, do you want this

(31:24):
job or not to replace Frank Gifford? And I said,
what happens if I say no, Well, then we're gonna
go get somebody else and you're never going to have
an opportunity to do this again for ABC. And they
were willing to give me an unprecedented four year contract.
So I had a two year deal essentially pending with
the Bengals or a four year deal with ABC. And

(31:45):
my kids now are born and they are living in
New York, and I have to make a decision. Do
I stay in Cincinnati and take and stay with the
Bengals for two more years, or do I take the
ABC job and retire and move back to New York.
And obviously you know the answer. I took the ABC job,
and no regrets. I could have played another couple more years,

(32:06):
but I think I made the right decision because ABC
afforded me a much bigger platform to do what I
was doing at the time, and that was trying to
raise money for cystic fibrosis.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
And we'll talk about that momentarily as well. But you know,
I'll compare it to your debut against the Oilers. You know,
now it's another debut, but in a different sense, even
though you weren't forward to it. Of course, we talked
about where your itch for broadcasting began the night you
debuted in the booth. How similar were the nerves to
when you debuted against the Oilers.

Speaker 2 (32:37):
Well, the thing was, I wasn't really that nervous, and
it was we did the Hall of Fame game, so
ABC had the Hall of Fame Game and the Pro
Ball at the end of the year. So it was
al Michael's, Dan Diodorf, and me, and we did the
Hall of Fame game and everything was really smooth, and
I remember Al Michael's walking out of the booth screaming,

(32:58):
this is going to be Emmy winning, This is going
to be me winning. And it really seemed like it
was great. And I got really close with Dan Diodorf,
the former offensive lineman for the Cardinals, and I love Dan.
I loved working with Dan, and we would play golf,
we'd go different places, we'd go out to dinner, you know,
on Sunday nights before the game, talking football, and then

(33:18):
long and behold. That year, which was nineteen nineteen ninety
eight season, we were over in Hawaii getting ready to
do the Pro Bowl and it's it's announced that Dan
Dierdorff is not coming back to the booth. I was shocked.
And there were some back then, there were there were
TV writers. They would they would follow along and they

(33:38):
would write different things, and things would be planted in
newspapers and somehow, some way, somebody reported that Dan Diedorff
and I were having problems, and I'm like problems. I
just got thumb playing golf with him and going out
to dinner with them, and I'm like, where is all
this coming from? This? Where is all this shrapnel coming from?
And I walked right into Michael Bornstein's office, who at

(33:59):
the time was running ABC Sports, I believe, and I said, Hey, hey, Mike,
I don't have a problem with Dan Tirdorf. If you're
letting him go because you think we have problems, this
is how stupid I am. You know, There's no way
that I have a problem with him. I love working
with him. I think he knows the game just as
good as anybody, and is really brought me along and
helped me this year, and next thing I know, he

(34:22):
was gone. And then the next year was me and
Al in a two man booth. And there was a
couple of things that had happened during that year that
I think eventually led to me being fired. And also
the producer and director Kenny Wolf and Craig Channef, who
I had met, you know, back in ninety and ninety one.
Well I knew them because they did some of our games,

(34:43):
but who I work for at USA Network. They got
fired too. The whole kit and kaboodle got fired, and
I still to this day can't really wrap my head
around it. But it's probably the best thing that ever
happened to me personally because it gave me a chance
to work for Sean mcmanuson CBS for twenty two years,
and of course how he Denner Off in Westwood one
and Joel Hollander at Westwood one for you know, over

(35:06):
twenty years. So it was I you know, it was
it was frustrating, it was humiliating, it was embarrassing, but
at the end of the day, you got to pick
yourself up and you got to go find something else,
and I did, and it lasted pretty much half a lifetime.

Speaker 1 (35:21):
Right, And that segues into Westwood One. And one thing
I did want to ask you about. You know, when
you think of Kevin Harlan, naturally we think basketball. We
just saw a man fly, amongst many other great calls
that he's had over the years. But just as prolific
as he is in covering the NBA on T and T,
which he's done so well for a number of years,
he's just as prolific in covering the NFL on the
radio for CBS Sports. Working with him you know, especially

(35:44):
with how prolonged the partnership that was how did he
bring out the best in you? What do you enjoy
about him, not just as a broadcaster, but as a person.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
You know, Westwood One was a great experience. And people say,
do you like radio or TV better? I said, I
love radio because you can expand your thoughts a little
bit more than you can on TV. But and you know,
I started with Howard David the first year as me,
Howard David and Matt Millan. It was great. We loved it.
We did the super Bowl, the Venetary super Bowl against
the Rams. That was me and Howard were in there

(36:12):
doing that one. And then they hired Marv Albert. So
I worked with Marv Albert for about seven years at
Westwood One. He was awesome because he was a childhood
idol of mine, and you know, so I was like, here,
I am working with the guy who's the voice of
the Knicks and the Rangers. For God's sake, this is
the greatest thing ever. And then when Marv stepped down
and they put Kevin Harlan in there, I mean the
energy level just went through the roof. All the guys

(36:37):
that I've worked with every single one of them, including
al Michaels, all extremely prepared, all have a way with words,
all had a flare about what they do. They all
know the rules, they all I mean, they are amazing
people to be able to do what they do. Know
all the names, know all the numbers, know all the storylines,
know when they hit the storylines. And I would say

(36:59):
that's Kevin's great greatest asset is that, you know, if
the game is a bad game, and we had a
lot of bad games on Monday Night Football at times,
you know he would be able to segue into a
whole other conversation about something else that may be going on.
And often felt like when we had a bad game
it turned into sports talk radio or football talk radio,
if you will. And Kevin's personality and friendship and his

(37:20):
humble nature as a broadcaster, much like Marv Albert too
for that matter, behind the scenes as an analyst, they
restored my faith in broadcasting to be honest with it,
just like Howard David did. Like they wanted me the
analyst to do the analyzing, to breaking down plays and
talk about maybe some history that I may have had
to lended the credibility of the discussion, and I would

(37:44):
say that that's the thing that really made me love
this business more than anything.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
And it's an interesting evolution because that kind of segues
perfectly into two thousand and seven as well. You were
not unfamiliar with Wfan. You know, there's old recordings from
the nineties that people have, Mike and the Mad Dog
and Imus in the Morning. Particularly with Imus in the Morning.
You were a regular on imis. You knew him very well.
It was the show for a while. The thing with
Imus in the Morning that you have to understand, and
I love that guy and I miss him, and I

(38:09):
wish I would have gotten him on the show was
did he ever have as big an audience listener wise
as Howard Stern did? No, and even Imus himself would
tell you that. But what Imus did have is he
had Wall Street. He had Washington, which only enhanced once
MSNBC started simulcasting the show in nineteen ninety six. And
that was what made him so good at what he did.

(38:29):
He had the ear of I guess, I don't want
to say the upper class of society, because plenty of
working people listened to him too, but he had a
niche audience and it worked for him, and it worked
very well. Two thousand and seven, we know the story.
Unfortunately controversial, Marks got him, can't He came back on WABC,
But a seismic hole in what had been a show
that he had held down for almost twenty years opens up,

(38:50):
and a lot of people thought he might have, you know,
might be coming back in September of that year, but
he didn't. And that brings you and Craig two polar opposites.
Craig Carton, of course, a veteran of WNW back during
the OPI and Anthony days, and you together and it
wasn't in you know, it wasn't necessarily an orthodox partnership.
It was quite unorthodox to say the least. But God

(39:10):
that it ended up working. So tell me about that
world wind summer of two thousand and seven leading into
September and getting that job.

Speaker 2 (39:17):
So I gotta go back to nineteen ninety three when
I got traded to the Jets. So in ninety three,
ninety four, ninety five, Joel Hollander, who was then running
WFAN along with you know, our program director, you know,
Mark Turnoff, come to me as the Jet quarterback and say,
how would you like to do like a show with
Mike and the Mad Dog, and we could do it

(39:38):
every Friday at five o'clock. And I said sure, because
there was another way to make money. Right So back
then you're looking for more ways to make money and
find sponsors and do different things. And really for me,
it was about platforming and making sure that people could
hear my story about CF. So I did a show
with those guys. It was and it was must listen
to radio. Those guys didn't hold back on me. I

(40:00):
played poorly. Those guys didn't hold back on us when
our team was terrible. We went through three coaches in
three years, Bruce Coslet, Pete Carroll, and then Richie Koe Tite,
and those fridays during the Richie Coe Tite year were
just brutal. And like I said, I had a friendship
with those two guys, but I also knew that they
had a job to do and I could answer it
and I can go back and forth with it. And

(40:20):
I also had a you know, obviously a sense of humor.
And that's how I got to know the wfan group
was through my jets initial show there and then as
years went on and I went to Westwood One. I
did a Friday Night in the Huddle show with Chris
mandog Russo at WFN. So again here I am. I'm
being exposed at WFN family and all that other stuff.

(40:42):
And then along comes you know, I'm doing Westwood One,
which you know WFN carried and I would go on
every Monday morning with Imus, and if I were ever
in wf an studios in the morning for whatever reason,
you know, doing line cuts or whatever it might be,
I automatically become part of the I'm As show. And
you know, Imus was great, Don't get me wrong. He

(41:04):
was a tremendous personality, really bright, but like I have
found out over the years, if you don't have the
right people around you, it's not going to work. And
you know, he had Bernard and Lou and you had
Tracy in there. You know, there's a uh, he had
a bunch of people that were there, Sid, Sid Rosenberg. Yeah,
Charles McCord was great and Sid was in there. And

(41:25):
you know, even Sid is reborn now as a political
talk show host. I think do a large part because
he saw how popular Imus was that he could make
it work. So I you know, I was exposed to
all of that. So when they came to me and
they asked me whether or not I would be interested
in morning radio, and it basically it happened on the
day that iMOS was fired. I got a call legitimately

(41:47):
two seconds after he was let go by CBS if
I would have any interested in morning radio, and I said,
I would have interest if they're going to pay me
as much as i'mus, of course, and they know we
can pay that much, but we can get pretty close
to it. I said, okay, I'll consider it, and I
know that we're considering other people. And I had no
idea who Craig Carton was. And then Chris Olivero and

(42:09):
Mark Chernoff put me in, Me and Craig in a
studio at w n W on July fourth of two
thousand and seven, said here's some subject matter. Go in
there and talk about it. And literally after three subjects,
Chris comes into the room and says, that's the show.
That's the show I want. That's that's what I want
for w f AN. I wanted to be sports based,

(42:31):
but I wanted to be funny. I wanted to be controversial,
and I want the athlete that's in there to have
a good sense of humor and not take things too seriously.
And I'll never forget. I really got nervous that I
was going to do this because Craig had, you know,
reputation in the history. He had gotten himself embroiled in
an argument with the New Jersey State Troopers. I had

(42:52):
a friend who was a captain with the New Jersey
State Troopers, and when he found she found out that
I was, you know, getting this job and I was
going to work with the guy. You should have seen
the flood of phone calls I was getting. Don't do it,
don't you know whatever I said. I tried to broke
her a piece between the two of them, and I
think I did that. But the one thing that I
will say, and I love Craig to death, I really do.

(43:14):
He He taught me more about radio and broadcasting, especially
a morning show, because the morning show is different than
an afternoon or midday show. He taught me so much
over the ten years that we worked with that now
working with Geo's and GEO two is so gifted and
so talented that it's easy for me to sit there

(43:37):
and just play off of everything that they're doing, or
I can bring something myself, and they know me so
well that they could play off of that themselves. But I,
you know, Craig was a guy that I always say
that he was an actor on the radio. Those four
hours that we together, I wasn't working with Craig Carton.
I was worrying with some actor that really, really truly

(43:58):
looked at it as a four hour stand up and
if you were in his way or if he was
going to insult you, he was going to go. And
I just had to be the laugh track for most
of it in the beginning of it because I didn't
understand what he was doing. And then after about six
or seven weeks I think I remember, it kicked in.
I'm working with this freaking stand up comedian who is

(44:19):
just trying to entertain everybody, and I got to go
along with this. This is going to be awesome. And
it turned out to really be a great ten year run.
And he was great to work with, never late for
a show, always on time, always would want to do
things around the show, want to promote the show. And
then when we got on TV with MSG, you know,

(44:39):
all hell broke clues so which I remember that, which.

Speaker 1 (44:43):
Was great because I was going to say, lest we
forget that first year wasn't easy. You know again, it's hard.
You were replacing a legend and it took a while there.
You know, was a little bit of resistance, as Craig
wrote about in his book The Time too, from certain
personalities at the station.

Speaker 2 (44:56):
But Chris, it was Mike and Chris, Yeah, you know,
they thought they ran to stay. And I can understand
that they were really close with Imus. They probably you know,
didn't want to see him go. And why why would they?
I mean, he was a cash cow, as you were
just saying. And I'll never forget. I had a friend
who owned a Mercedes store and it's not Ray Katina.
It was a guy that was up in Connecticut at

(45:17):
the time, and he was a huge Imus listener. And
I introduced i'mus to that guy, and that guy next thing,
I know, he's like the lead sponsor on Imus's show.
You know. So I got the kind of the finances
around the show like this. But you know, Mike and
Chris didn't like Craig. I think I think they for whatever,

(45:40):
listen it turned out. I understand why they didn't, but
you know, they made fun of us a couple of
times early on, and it felt and I think Craig
felt that it was mean spirited. I probably did too.
And I know we had a meeting with Mike once
and Mike walked in with sunglasses that Craig always talks
about and wouldn't take the sunglasses off. All right, whatever,

(46:02):
And then there was one where we were sitting on
the couch and Mike wouldn't sit down. He was going
to sit on the desk to be higher than us. Yeah, like,
this whole thing is asinine. I mean, what are we
doing here? We're all on the same team, you know,
I'm thinking from an athlete's perspective, a quarterbacks perspective. Can't
we all get along here? And Craig really was, I mean,

(46:23):
he was the impetus to it, and he knew, he
knew that the more friction there was, the better it
was going to be for the station, I think, and
the more fun he could have and the more he
could just basically let let it go. And I'll never
forget when we finally got our ratings and we hit
number one. This was a major moment for us, and

(46:45):
I think it was I want to say it was
like after either our second quarter together or our third
quarter together. So it was early on we hit number one,
and Craig, being the radio guy, says to Mark turnoff,
you now can no longer tell me what to say
on the air. I am number one or we are
number one, and that's when he broke out the Susan

(47:08):
Waldman George Steinburner's box. Roger Clemens is George Steinburner's rock.
I was crying on the on the ground. I was
laughing so hard because, yeah, like Geo has like perfect
impersonations like you.

Speaker 1 (47:24):
Yeah he does. He does a good Frances he does.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
He does Craig just like just over embellishes everything. And
when he was doing Susan Waldman, I was crying. I
mean Al was crying, Eddie, We're all crying. We're laughing
so hard. And that's when I truly knew that I'm
gonna love this show. I'm gonna love this job, and
I'm gonna look forward to it every single day.

Speaker 1 (47:46):
The day you guys made fun of Dog for well,
first Darregel where there was that, but there was also
johansbot Sebastian Buck, which is on YouTube and it's entirety.
I was ten years old listening to that At the time,
it was I think it was during summer breaks, so
I had time to listen to you guys that wasn't
in school then. And I was crying. I never forget
I was crying out, that's how hard I was laughing.
It was great radio. And it depends on what era

(48:07):
you're from. For certain guys listening to Fan their eras
Ibis and Mike and the Mad Dog. But really, my
air I started listening to Fan when I was six
seven years old, is really you and Craig, Joe and
Evan in the middays and then Mike by himself in
the afternoons. And that was a great time. Man, that's
a great.

Speaker 2 (48:22):
Well, you know, it's a tumultuous time because you know,
Chris Russo left. It was weird, you know, it was
Mike going to have a partner and not going to
have a partner. That was a whole thing for a
couple of months there. You know, me and Craig are
trying to find our footing. You know, I always felt
like we were the Good Morning Vietnam Robin Williams radio program.
And then came the show after Us, which was hardcore sports,

(48:44):
and I could still say that today. You know, Sal
and Brandon are really locked in on baseball. It's hardcore sports,
where me and Joe are a little bit more free
flowing and a little bit more lifestyle and a little
bit more double entendre stuff. But I have to say this,
We had a show and I think I couldn't stop
laughing for five minutes. And those are the shows that

(49:07):
you know, you just never know when they're gonna happen,
and when they do happen, you realize, you know what,
this is a pretty damn good job. It's a lot
of fun and it's all genuine. But I had those
moments with Craig so many times, and I now have
them with Geo just as many times. So it's just
working with a different person a different personality, a little
bit younger than me. Craig was a little bit closer
to me in age yep. And Craig loved playing like

(49:31):
the like you know that class you would have in school.
You'd go past it and there'd be spitballs flying all
over the place and no kid would be in their seat,
and the ports teacher would be or the substitute teacher
would be sitting up in front of the class, couldn't
control anybody. I always felt like Craig was one of
those kids, you know, he was the kid that nobody
could control, and I did not want to control them.

(49:52):
And there were times he would say things about people
that I knew very good and he would be very
critical of and I had to let him do And
I never got mad at him, and he and I
never had and Geo and I have never had a
bad day in the studio. We've never left in the
ten years that we worked together before he left unexpectedly,

(50:12):
never had a crossword to say to each other, never
had a bad day. And I can say the same
thing about man Geo.

Speaker 1 (50:19):
And before I get to your foundation, it's worth noting
not County's time at WNBC before it became WFAN. IM
just had the morning show in Fan for nineteen years.
This September will be seventeen for you, between working with
Greg and working with Geo. When you think about that
type of longevity and the success that's come with it,
how would you define it if you had to define
it in.

Speaker 2 (50:37):
A sentence, I would say that I look at it
from a quarterback's perspective. I can't put it in a sentence,
but I can put it this way. You know, I've
been working with great teammates, great coaching. I've always tried

(50:58):
to bring a certain level of stability to what I'm
doing if I can, and I think I've been very
lucky to have guys like Al Dukes, Eddie Scazzeri, and
Jerry Recco. I mean, when when Craig ultimately left and resigned,
you know, I was presented with an opportunity to go
to the afternoon and most people think, you know, that's

(51:18):
what you'd want because it gives you a much better lifestyle.
And I remember sitting down with Al, Jerry and Eddie
and all three of them going no, no, no, we
want to stay in the morning. They were whining to
me about staying in the morning, and I legitimately thought
about going to the afternoon, but then I was saying,
you know what, four hours in the morning havn't the
way this thing has flowed out. If we could find

(51:39):
the right guy, then I'll stay. And a lot of
people at the station knew that it was going to
be GEO, and I've known I knew GEO at least
ten years prior and Noah's history, and you know, I would,
I know what he was capable of. But now working
with him these past eight years, it was another genius

(52:00):
decision by both Mark turn Off and Chris Olivero to
put him in Craig's.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
Seat, and it was and it's paid off in space again.
The ratings continue to be top notch and the show,
of course continues to not only have success on the
radio side, but as I mentioned, on the television side
with CBS Sports Network. So that brings me into the
Boomera Size and Foundation, which also has two meetings. Not
just helping those with cistic fibrosis. I know that hit
close to home with Gunner, who's doing very well thankfully,

(52:23):
but after the tragedy of nine to eleven of which
the anniversary is next month, helping the families of nine
to eleven. Originally the office for Over Your Foundation was
in the one hundred and first floor of the North
Tower of the World Trade Center, and so many employees
of Canter Fitzgerald, which was closely associated with that foundation,
perish that day. So since then, tell me about not

(52:44):
only helping those with cistic fibrosis, but since two thousand
and one, helping the families of those lost to nine
to eleven.

Speaker 2 (52:49):
Well, long and behold, I got traded to the Jets.
Gunner is three years old, about to turn three, and
he's diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. And you know, it was
somewhat of a bittersweet moment for a number of people
in this CF community because they really didn't have anybody,
you know, that was a celebrity, if you will. They
had Frank the Ford who lost his daughter Alex at
the age of eight. At that time, they did a movie,

(53:12):
he wrote a beautiful book about her, and he really
was the celebrity spokesperson. But he was a writer. He
was you know, he had TV presence, but he wasn't
a football player, wasn't a quarterback. And he was kind
of like my mentor because I got involved in CF
well before Gunner was even born, because I heard him
speak where I was getting an award and he spoke
about how he lost his daughter Alex the CF. So

(53:33):
I went up to him and said, if I can
help it anyway, He goes, oh, I'd love you to help.
You could be a celebrity. At a celebrity waiters luncheon
in Cincinnati, be a part of a golf tournament. I'll
bring out the celebrity ski all this different stuff. So
I got involved without having children because I wanted something
else in my life. I wanted to be a part
of something that maybe and quite frankly, going to Cincinnati

(53:53):
Children's Hospital back in the day seeing CF patients was
no fun because a lot of those patients were really,
really sick. They're needing double lung transplants or dying before
their tenth birthday. And I remember bringing roses to a
girl who basically passed away before I got back to
see her after a game that we played on a Sunday,
So I gave her roses on Friday. She was like

(54:14):
eight or nine. She was going in for a double
lung transplant. Came back on Sunday after the game and
got a call from the doctor that she didn't make it.
So I knew the realities of cystic fibrosis. Gunner's then
born in nineteen ninety one. I get traded to the
Jets in ninety three, and right as I get to
the Jets, he is diagnosed with CF, and the most

(54:35):
weird thing overtook me, Like I didn't know how to act.
And I remember telling both Gunner's mom, my dad and
everybody in my life, maybe I should retire. Maybe I
need to do, you know, something else now, and maybe
football is not in the offing, you know, And I
don't want to let down Bruce Coslet, who was my
offense coordinator in Cincinnati, who is now the Jet head coach,

(54:57):
who just made the trade for me. And then I
got a call from Frank to Ford and he said, look,
this is this is all we could all we could
think is this is a sign that you're going to
go to the biggest media capital in the world. We
don't have anybody would have the platform that you had.
I don't have the platform that you're going to have.
And that's when we launched our foundation in nineteen ninety three.

(55:20):
And you know, it's been a whirlwind, to say the least.
And you know, and to tie it into two thousand
and one, my friend Howard Lutnik, who is our commerce
secretary now, was the CEO of Canter Fitzgerald. He allowed
me a floor space within Canter Fitzgerald for nothing. He
supported our foundation financially himself and through his company at

(55:41):
about one hundred and fifty friends that worked at Canta
Fitzgerald and supporters, including my best friend Tim O'Brien, and
that faithful day, I was actually out in Denver coming
back from a Monday night game that I was doing
on Westwood One. It was the Giants in the Denver
Broncos the McCaffrey game where he broke his leg and
obviously ourane was not allowed to take off. We got
off the plane, go into the tarmac a terminal, I

(56:04):
should say, and look up and there I see the
North Tower on fire right where my offices are, right
where Canna Fitzgerald's offices are, and you could just imagine
what I'm thinking about. I'm thinking about. I hope they
didn't go to work, or maybe they didn't go to work.
For Howard Lutneck, I don't know if he feels fortunate
or not. You know, I've talked to him about this

(56:25):
quite a bit. But he was taking his child to
his first day a kindergarten, so he missed like normally
he would be in the office, like at seven o'clock
in the morning, so he missed that day. But much
like the first responders, what did he do? He left
where his kid was going to school, and ran to
the building and as people were running out of the building,

(56:45):
he was asking for floor numbers that they were on,
like he was going to see whether or not, you know,
is this entire company blown up or what's going on here?
And I saw a man go through five years of
living hell because he lost his brother, lost a lot
of his friends, his best friend, Doug Gardner, had to
keep the entire company, try to rebuild it and try

(57:06):
to work through London twenty four to seven. And that's
a guy who I admired, and I admired his work
ethic and his never say die attitude. And that attitude
has led me to where I am today. And fortunately
enough for us in assistic vibus cistic fibrosis world, we've
raised enough money where we finally made a difference in

(57:27):
twenty and eighteen and Gunner's likely age of twenty three
has now been expanded to seventy five because of a
drug development that took place because of all the money
that all of us in the CF community have raised together.
And that's the greatest accomplishment of my life as being
a part of that team that was able to give
life a second life to these kids with cistic fibrosis.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
And that is a wonderful thing. I know. It's been
a passion project for you, to say the least, and
especially again tying it into two thousand and one since that,
and it's done so much good and I'd be remiss,
of course if we didn't get the chance to talk
about that here. In addition to everything that you've done
on the fielding on the radio, that's probably the thing
you're most proudest of.

Speaker 2 (58:07):
And I can see why when I held my grandson
for the first time. His name is Casper, and then
of course they had a second daughter, her name is Mika.
The fact that Gunner is a father himself. It's one
of the things that I said way back one that
my hope in life and my goal in life would
obviously would be to win a Super Bowl. But if

(58:28):
I can't win a Super Bowl, I want my son
to outlive me and become a father himself, to feel
the pride that you know us dads have of our children.
And you know that dream has been met. It's been
met because he himself has the same inner drive that
his grandfather had, like he fought so many times going
to hospitals getting pick lines and having you know, all

(58:51):
sorts of drugs pumped throw him to try to keep
them alive and to keep them off the transplant list,
and that toughness, that desire to live, that desire to
become the man he is today is the thing that
I am truly most proud of.

Speaker 1 (59:07):
Very well said before we get to the rapid fire
to conclude the program and the hours flown by, it's
been a heck of a conversation with you. Quick prognosis.
Of course, Mets are in the stretch run. They're starting
to play a little bit better, so I'll get we'll
go through the three teams real quick. Quick prognosis on
the Mets, what do you envision?

Speaker 2 (59:24):
I do envision them making the playoffs. I don't think
they're going to overtake the Phillies unless the Phillies have
a few more injuries. You know, the Zach Wheeler injury
is huge for the Phillies and it's huge for the Mets.
But you know, it all's going to come down to health,
I think. And the team is starting to hit now again,
and I'm starting to feel some of the same vibes
that we were feeling this time last year about this team,

(59:45):
so I still think they're going to make the playoffs.
I don't think their pitching staff is good enough. They're
starting pitching staff is good enough to win a World Series, though.

Speaker 1 (59:53):
As I said before, and producer Victor knows this, he's
a Braves fan. I'm a diehardy Yankee fan, but I'm
not one of these elitists Yankee fans. I have nothing
against the Mets.

Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
I like you, elitist. Why did you stay elitist? Is
there a subliminal message there to me or something?

Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
No, not at all. I mean, listen, I'm the type
of guy that loves to see both teams doing well.
It's it's better for the city. The Yankees have started
play better too, But I don't trust him heause I've
been hurt one too many times. You and I both
share a love, however, Eve, although we differ on baseball.

Speaker 2 (01:00:17):
I say this about the Yankees, O, Mike. I think
I think they're a ninety six ninety seven win team.
I do. And you look at the back end of
their schedule. You just all you got to do is
look at it. Yeah, and you know their performance against
the Rays hitting nine home runs, you know, I mean
they are an intimidating team. I don't care what anybody says.
If you want to they got to get Max Freed
going again. I don't know about struggle, right, I don't

(01:00:39):
know about Carlos Roddan, but I'm telling you, if that
pitching comes around, and I still think they're one of
the best teams and has and have one of the
best lineups in all of baseball, so I could see
them at least making it to the the American League Championship.

Speaker 1 (01:00:55):
Series hopefully, hopefully. Although we differ on baseball, where the
same when it comes to hockey, with the same when
it comes to basketball. I'm not so bullish in the Rangers.

Speaker 2 (01:01:03):
What do you think I'm I'm bullish and I'll tell
you why. I like the new coach. Love Mike Sullivan,
Absolutely love him. He walks into the door with instant credibility.
He's not gonna be he's not gonna be too hard
on them. But you know, there are expectations and Chris
Drewery is feeling it, and you know, I don't know
if they're big game hunting, and maybe they're sitting on

(01:01:25):
some contracts waiting for Connor McDavid to make a decision
because I could see the Rangers going all in for him, Yes,
without question. So Panaren and he are both rising free agents,
and I think Panaren's going to be on a mission
to really put up big numbers this year. What we
don't know is just how this defense is gonna shake out.
That was a shaky part of it last year. But

(01:01:46):
Mike Sullivan is going to require everybody to play a
two hundred foot sheet of ice. And I do believe
the combination of Vincent, Trocheck and and Miller are best friends,
Pittsburgh guys through and through. I expect them to have
great seasons this year. I really really do so. Stanley Cup,

(01:02:09):
I don't know, but I do think that they are
definitely a playoff team.

Speaker 1 (01:02:13):
Should they give anybody to see this year or wait another.

Speaker 2 (01:02:15):
Year, I would give it to Miller. I I would
give it to him, or I would give it to Trocheck,
who seemed to be Miller did want to step on
Trocheck's toes last year because he was traded for in
the middle of the season. Trocheck was the one that
was answering all the questions during the end, and I
give Vinnie a lot of credit for doing that. It
was not easy, but I would say it's either Miller

(01:02:37):
or Trocheck for me. Anyway, that would have to be
the captain.

Speaker 1 (01:02:40):
And last one before the rapid fire that I'll mention
I for me, I look at the Knicks now as
people back then in nineteen thinety three to nineteen twety
four did when Michael retired. Unfortunately, with Tatum going down,
I hated to see that he's a great player. Same
thing with Halliburton. The conference is wide open. I know
Cleveland's there, Orlando's going to be healthy, so there's threats there,
but it's now never. I think if there was ever

(01:03:01):
a time for the Knicks to finally do what they
haven't done since nineteen ninety nine and at least get
to a finals, it's this season. Do you agree?

Speaker 2 (01:03:07):
Yeah? Yes, they have ten or eleven legitimate NBA players
that Mike Brown is now going to play. I don't
know what happened. I was a huge, huge Tom Thibodeaux fan.
I thought he brought stability, professionalism, defense to our franchise
that has long been miss mismanaged, and they finally got
it right. Lenrose, I got to give him credit. Now,

(01:03:30):
for some reason, they fired Tibbs. I'm not sure why.
Now Mike Brown comes in, He's got a great resume.
I'm sure he's gonna get along with these guys. And
I think probably one of the things here Mike is
because he'll play more players. He'll and they got a
more players, they got more legitimate players. But the real
question for me is going to be, Okay, so we're
gonna whose minutes are we taken away? We take it away?

(01:03:54):
Mikhail Bridges minutes we take it away, Carl Anthony Towns
minutes we taken away, Jalleen Brunson's minutes. I just want
to know, because if we're all want like a spread
out roster and more guys playing, that means guys who
put up big numbers points, rebounds, assists aren't going to
play the same amount of minutes that they had been
playing under TIBs. And I just hope that that doesn't

(01:04:15):
turn into a complete and utter disaster. Like I don't
know if Hart goes back to the bench. I don't
know if he's coming off the bench now. I mean,
there's a lot of things that Mike Brown can play
with here, but personalities are unique, and I think that's
what's going to decide whether or not they actually make
it to the championship. How unselfish they are.

Speaker 1 (01:04:33):
Yep, and they have that track record. Let's see if
it carries over from TIBs to Mike Brown. Of course,
that brings us now into the rapid fire five hit
run questions for me? Five hit and run answers to me?
You could say pass if you want. First, Top five
favorite Rangers of all time.

Speaker 2 (01:04:46):
Oh, Roger Obert, Mark Messier, Brian Leach, Mike Richter, Henrik Lundquist,
and five A would be Chris Krider and.

Speaker 1 (01:04:59):
Out a bad list? Oh, Second, Top five favorite Mets
of all time?

Speaker 2 (01:05:03):
Wow, I have to go all the way back man,
Tom sever Number one, without question, will always be in
my heart. Love Cleon Jones. I'm Mike Piazza. Of course,
I say Jacob de Gram. Unfortunately we don't have him now.
I wish we did. And I love Buddy Harrelson.

Speaker 1 (01:05:26):
All right, not a bad list either. Third, you mentioned
super Bowl forty two earlier. Besides super Bowl forty two,
favorite super Bowl that has an analyst you've ever watched or.

Speaker 2 (01:05:35):
That I did? Okay, I would probably say Arizona and
Pittsburgh down and where was that was at Tampa. There
was Tampa. I was a James Harrison pick and that
was Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald on the Arizona. That was
the Santonio Holmes catching the back. I mean, that was

(01:05:56):
an amazing game. And I did that game with Marv Albert.
And I'll never forget when James Harrickson catches the ball
and he's running it back and I'm looking at the clock,
I'm going he better scored. There's could be no time
on the clock, and certainly he scores. So he kept
them off the board, the Cardinals off the board, and
he put his own team on the board. So one
of the reasons why the Steelers were able to win

(01:06:17):
that Super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (01:06:18):
Of course again, and we were spoiled there as fans
of football in general for a couple years because the
year before, of course was Giants Patriots, a great game
in its own right, and then of course you get
an even greater game and of course the Cardinals and
the Steelers. Fourth question of the rapid fire. Second to
last funniest teammate you ever had.

Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
Chris Collinsworth. I mean he doesn't come off that way
now on TV. I know that I know he's more technical,
he's very well spoken. Well. When I met him, he
was three years into the NFL. I think he was
Rookie of the Year. He was a couple of time
All Pro player already, and he was just a goofy,
funny Florida kid that at the time wasn't married, didn't

(01:06:56):
have any kids, and he was fly by the seat
of your pants funny. And the one thing I remember
about going to Cincinnati for the first time and walking
into that offensive meeting room was just how smart the
entire team was. From Anthony Munos, Max Montoya, we had
Isaac Curtis in there, we you know, of course, Kenny Anderson,

(01:07:16):
turch Shoener, and you know Chris Is in there as well,
So everybody in there was just so smart and so funny.
I would have to say Chris collins Worth by far.

Speaker 1 (01:07:27):
The last question the rapid fire. You talked about it
earlier when you were a college kid. You can expand
out of here, if you can go back in time,
if time machines existed, and give advice to a younger
version of yourself. What would the boomer size in talking
to me today? Tell the boomer size and event.

Speaker 2 (01:07:40):
Listen, son, Life comes at you fast, and you're going
to have to deal with a lot of ups and downs,
and how you deal with those ups and downs will
ultimately depend on how successful you be. And I could
say that there were times where I could have been
better than I was because I was distracted by something
that I shouldn't have been distracted by, or whatever the

(01:08:01):
case may be. But I would just say life comes
at you fast, and be ready for whatever it throws
at you.

Speaker 1 (01:08:08):
The advice good way to end. Stick around. We'll talk
off here before I say goodbye to the audience. Any
shout outs to anyone or anything you want to give
the floors yours.

Speaker 2 (01:08:15):
I appreciate it. Mike, thank you very much. I knew
I recognize that voice when we met first on and
I'm glad you're still a big sports fan and certainly
a big supporter of WFVN. I thank you very much
for that.

Speaker 1 (01:08:28):
Thank you for the time. It's been a long time
coming to get you on the program. I know, like
I said, I know you're busy, so I appreciate you
making the time. Thanks to all of you and the audience,
those of you who will listen to this and of
course those of you who will watch it later and
as always I can't speak today. Producer Victor on the
ones too, So this is a doubleheader coming up next
to the Mike the New Aven podcast. We're not done.
We're doing a second show later today. He came on

(01:08:48):
the Ft and Y a month after nine to eleven
in October of two thousand and one. Is served for
twenty three years, going on twenty four with the New
York City Fire Department, currently Lieutenant with the podcast of
his own Top Floor Tactics. That's going to be Mickey
Ferrell tonight live at six for what'll be volume seventy
one of our FD and Y mini series, The Best,
the Bravest interviews with the Ft and whys Elite. For
those of you are listening on the audio side, when

(01:09:09):
you hear this from their nineteen eighty two album Screaming
for Vengeance, Judas Priest comes your way with You've Got
Another Thing Coming in the meantime on behalf of producer
Victor and Boomeris Sisson on Mike Cologne aka Yes Mike
and New Havel. We will see you later today for
the second show that double Heaven. Take care, dou hour go.

Speaker 3 (01:10:03):
And kind of blow a time long and a music sloud.

Speaker 4 (01:10:15):
You don't sit around at drinking like a mouka the.

Speaker 3 (01:10:20):
James you would die. I'd even bought your Twitter you say,
got a dump your badger.

Speaker 5 (01:10:27):
Down, Patrum.

Speaker 3 (01:10:31):
Got a trumping right use where they're talking.

Speaker 6 (01:10:42):
Wan listen lit some nice now be so ascious fans
Wo wow, tall and all Yasser, I got a least
try trouble downs Ride said about showing a.

Speaker 4 (01:11:06):
Break Sony four your fellas again and there's a bunch
of way we have got there, joa on mad you
got another big trus.

Speaker 3 (01:11:19):
You got ant a bad count.

Speaker 4 (01:11:26):
You got another a big count.

Speaker 5 (01:11:35):
Shills Now it's start yet it was hard, so I'm

(01:12:16):
ti turn your bskin.

Speaker 3 (01:12:22):
Than my step in mess.

Speaker 6 (01:12:28):
Bree s got me some security urn out smash go
for infantasy. If you think I'll sit around there, you
not locus in.

Speaker 4 (01:12:47):
Jason one die oday about you wait to read that
you got your your fast.

Speaker 3 (01:12:55):
Got another mature John drama out drama down. You gotta

(01:13:40):
do jot m

Speaker 5 (01:13:55):
Jama jam no no, no no, because

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