Proud dad Boomer Esiason rejoices in son Gunnar's wedding and son-in-law Matt Martin's winning goal
Boomer Esiason and Gunnar Esiason attend the Samsung Charity Gala at The Manhattan Center on Sept. 27, 2018. Credit: Getty Images for Samsung / Jamie McCarthy
"It was almost too good to be true," Boomer Esiason said.
But it was true. As the WFAN morning co-host recounted his family’s weekend first thing Monday morning, he continually marveled at the circumstances.
"It couldn’t have been a more perfect moment in time to watch those two stand up there," he said on the air.
"Those two" were his son, Gunnar, and Gunnar’s bride, Darcy. They wed Saturday in Massachusetts.
Later that evening, Matt Martin, who is married to Esiason’s daughter, Sydney, scored the game-winning goal for the Islanders against the Lightning in Game 4 of a Stanley Cup semifinal at Nassau Coliseum.
Oh, and this: Gunnar announced at the wedding reception – and publicly on Sunday- that he and Darcy are expecting a son in December.
Esiason became emotional on the air on Monday as he recalled getting the news about the baby at a family dinner on Thursday.
He was given an early Father’s Day gift that he assumed was a book. "I open it and there is a Lucite frame with a sonogram in it," he said. "Me and Sydney lost it."
Esiason had been unaware before Thursday the couple was trying to get pregnant using in vitro fertilization, which was necessary because of the effects of Gunnar’s cystic fibrosis.
Esiason said there was no television at the reception, but that everyone who cared to know what was going on at the Islanders game kept track of the score on their phones.
There also was a friend providing updates from the Coliseum itself, where the Islanders won, 3-2.
Esiason said at one point he was on stage holding a cardboard cutout of Martin, yelling, "My son-in-law just scored the game-winning goal! Let’s go!" He added, "Sydney’s like, ‘We’ve got to go get an [expletive] lottery ticket.’"
After ending so many speeches about CF by saying his goals are for Gunnar to have the privilege of becoming a father and to outlive him, Boomer said the weekend was overwhelming emotionally.
"There are so many emotions, it’s really hard to put into words," he said during an opening segment dedicated to the eventful weekend in the Esiason/Martin family.
"It’s incomprehensible. It’s so hard to even understand . . . I don’t necessarily know that I could take much more."
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
