After his arch-nemesis starred in a 30 for 30 earlier this month, Boomer Esiason is now getting his own ESPN special.
It’s not exactly a secret that Esiason doesn’t harbor fond feelings for Mark Gastineau, but there’s more to Esiason’s story than a former player turned WFAN host feuding with a troubled pass rusher.
Earlier this week, ESPN announced it would feature Esiason and his son, Gunnar, in an E:60 special titled Second Wind: The Boomer and Gunnar Esiason Story.
While Esiason has been one of the more visible quarterbacks of his generation, whether during his playing days or his post-playing career in the media with WFAN and the NFL on CBS, his impact extends well beyond football. Perhaps it’s his greatest accomplishment that he used his platform as an NFL quarterback to embark on a personal crusade to not only find a cure for a deadly disease but also save his son’s life in the process.
Boomer won’t be the only ’80s NFL player who became a media member featured in this documentary. An ESPN release indicated that Phil Simms and Cris Collinsworth will also be included. The latter is featured in the 90-second trailer and is quoted as saying, “We had no idea the battle that was to come.”
The battle Boomer’s former Cincinnati Bengals teammate is referring to began when Gunnar was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) at just two years old. That was revealed in a 1993 Sports Illustrated cover story as Boomer looked to spread more awareness around a genetic disease that causes mucus to accumulate in the lungs, which makes breathing difficult.
At the time of his diagnosis, the average life expectancy for those with CF was just 30 years.
“My goal in life is for my son to outlive me,” Boomer said. “This is where science, miracles, and everything else come together.”
Boomer has become the country’s most visible advocate for cystic fibrosis research through his Boomer Esiason Foundation. Gunnar’s Instagram bio acknowledges that he was “Saved by science,” a sentiment that likely wouldn’t have been possible without his father’s tireless advocacy.
Gunnar, now over 30 years old and the father of two healthy children under three, a son and a daughter, reflects on his experience in the teaser, saying, “What I went through still haunts me to this day.”
His story is one worth telling and documenting, which ESPN will do on Christmas Eve, 2024.
[ESPN PR]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.