Gunnar Esiason wore a hockey shirt until about a minute before kickoff, when mom came down the aisle with a No. 7 Bengals jersey and pulled it over him.
A few minutes later, Gunnar had his nose pressed against the glass of the Cinergy Field press box and watched his father, Boomer Esiason, the guy wearing the big No. 7, march the Bengals to the opposite end zone for a touchdown.
''Ooh, second-and-1,'' Gunnar exulted after Dad hit Carl Pickens on a slant.
Then on the next drive, when Pickens was slow to get up and the public address announcer informed the crowd that he was injured, Gunnar spoke for the Tristate when he said, ''No. Not him. Tell me I didn't hear that.''
Gunnar felt better late in the first half, when Dad found Darnay Scott for an 11-yard touchdown pass. He turned to one of his best buddies, Ben Brinker, his Northern Kentucky neighbor, and hugged him.
Meanwhile, Cheryl Esiason watched the scene the only way a Mom can. With pride and wonder of her 6-year-old son who has cystic fibrosis. While she mingled with about 20 or so FOBs (Friends of Boomer) from New York and Cincinnati, she occasionally stole a handful of popcorn and a glance at Gunnar sitting in the front row of the box in his stocking feet.
By the third quarter, Gunnar had already been on the JumboTron three times, and been interviewed by a television station and a newspaper. When Dad drove the Bengals near a touchdown, Gunnar would stand up because he knew he was going on the JumboTron with a score.
''I covered my sister once,'' joked Gunnar after hiding 5-year-old Sydney on a scoreboard shot.
''He's smart, like an old soul,'' Cheryl said. ''I know he'll remember this. It means a lot to me that he can see this in Cincinnati.''
You'll forgive Cheryl Esiason if she had some mixed feelings on this Sunday. She knows exactly what Lewanna and Jeff Blake were enduring. It wasn't much different than what she went through five years ago, when the fans yelled terrible things at her husband. But Cheryl admitted this team is so different than the one they left in 1992, it was hard to get nostalgic about good or bad.
''There's really no one left,'' she said. ''Carl Pickens is the only one on offense and he was a rookie. So it just seems so different. Different team. Different circumstances.''
Except Gunnar and Sydney, infants the last go-around, are here. A man asked Gunnar if his father told him about the old days with the Bengals.
He nodded and said of the 1988 season, ''When they went to the Super Bowl and he got the Best Player Award.''
As Cheryl Esiason watched the Bengals try to fend off the Jaguars in the fourth quarter after Dad had rung up 31 points, she knew this had become more than a day, but a moment.
''I guess what makes it such a good moment is that Boomer has played at this level,'' said Cheryl, who remembers the boos. ''I feel so good for him.''
Game story
Boomer plays for crowd of one Paul Daugherty column
Could Boomer be the future? Tim Sullivan column
Pickens' season may be over
Esiason shows Blake power of suggestion
Defense bends but doesn't break
Notebook
Game statistics
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