Boomer Esiason tells Olympic athletes to ‘pipe down’ and ‘respect the flag’

As more Olympic athletes share conflicting opinions about representing the United States in its current condition, Boomer Esiason suggested they just shut up and dribble, or ice skate.

While recapping the sports weekend on WFAN, Esiason proudly shared he and his grandchildren were watching Team USA win gold in figure skating instead of the epically long Super Bowl pregame show on Sunday. The comment prompted co-host Gregg Giannotti to poke Esiason by asking if Team USA’s figure skating team is “happy to represent America?”

“They seem to be happy to represent America,” Esiason said. “Not everybody is. But everybody should just pipe down and just do their sport and play for our country and respect the flag and respect everything that’s going on.”

Esiason’s comment came after freestyle skier Hunter Hess was asked about what it means to represent the United States at the Winter Games, and the Olympian admitted he has “mixed emotions” about it.

“There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of and think a lot of people aren’t,” Hess said last week. “If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. But just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean that I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”

Hess did, however, add that he is proud to represent everything that he believes to be good about the United States. But that wasn’t enough for him to avoid backlash for believing the United States can still do better. Esiason’s apparent issue with Hess and other Olympic athletes speaking out at the Winter Games aligned with President Donald Trump, who predictably ripped the American skier for speaking out in a social media post.

“U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,” Trump wrote. “If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump himself is routinely critical of things going on in the United States and makes it clear his moral values don’t align with at least half its residents, but the president still couldn’t handle hearing Hess state there are things about the country he doesn’t agree with.

Athletes do appear to be fielding more questions about the state of the country during these Olympic Games than at previous events. Or maybe it’s just that their answers are garnering more attention. Some see it as a reporter baiting and using an athlete to share their own political or social opinions. But “what does it mean to represent your country?” is not a new question at any global sporting event. And as Amanda Anisimova proved at the Australian Open, athletes don’t have to give an opinion on social or political issues if they don’t want to.