Wednesday, March 03, 1999
Boomer: $1 M donation not enough for him to play
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If Mike Brown and Boomer Esiason have their way, we'll never know just how close Esiason was to returning to the Bengals when they met Feb. 23 at Spinney Field.
But Esiason made it clear Tuesday that while he appreciates Chancellor Media Corporation's offer to give $1 million to the cause of fighting cystic fibrosis if he returned to play this season, he's ready to return to ABC's booth for Monday Night Football.
Chancellor owns WBOB-AM (1160), which wrested rights to the Bengals from WLW-AM (700). Esiason works for WLW, but on Tuesday Esiason was grateful to the arch-rivals.
“I'm amazed. It's an amazing gesture and it's very much appreciated,” Esiason said. “One of the reasons I quit football was because ABC could give me a huge platform like no other. Our annual dinner in New York netted $1 million after a few years it was $600,000 to $650,000. And WLW has been great to me, too.”
Esiason, whose 7-year-old son Gunnar suffers from CF, let it be known in January he was considering ending his retirement. He had walked away from football after failing to reach a contract extension with the Bengals.
But after Bengals President Mike Brown said the Bengals would pursue Esiason if he was serious, both parties have refused to talk. After Esiason's visit last week, the Bengals opted to give Jeff Blake his $500,000 signing bonus.
“Re-consider what?” asked Esiason, when asked if the Chancellor offer would make him re-consider retirement. “You have to consider something first to re-consider. I like my job. I have a great job. You've got to understand. We all have to be guarded in a situation like this.
“I respect the situation Mike Brown is in because he has four quarterbacks under contract. They gave Jeff Blake $500,000. Let's move on.”
Brown would only say Esiason informed the Bengals a few days ago he planned to stay in the booth and has no reason to think he's going to change his mind. Brown won't say if he pursued him.
Mark Mandel, ABC's director of media relations, said Esiason told him last week he was returning to the booth.
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 Boomer: $1 M donation not enough for him to play
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