Boomer Esiason, the 1988 NFL MVP now working as a New York sports radio host, has heard enough from American-born Chinese OIympic freeskier Eileen Gu.
‘If you listen to her, you’re like: What?’ Esiason said after she took home two silver medals and a gold in the half pipe from Milan.
The 64-year-old Long Island native was quick to concede that the 22-year-old Gu is both beautiful and smart. But in becoming the latest to chastise her for representing China over the United States at the recent Winter Olympics, Esiason also got a bit personal.
‘Her mother’s Chinese,’ Esiason told his WFAN co-host, Gregg ‘Gio’ Giannotti. ‘I guess there is some loophole that allows her to participate for China. The Chinese government paid her a lot of money. It’s kind of funny that a communist country would pay a woman to be propaganda as a capitalist.
‘She’s a very, very attractive woman and she’s extremely bright, she went to Stanford,’ Boomer, a Maryland grad, told Giannotti. ‘But if you listen to her post… participation interviews, she’s insufferable,’ he continued. ‘She is. It’s hard to listen to. But then again, it’s an individual sport and an individual person talking about herself as opposed to talking about her teammates or the support she receives.’
In recent press conferences, Gu has cried over the recent death of her grandmother, defended her decision to represent China over the United States, and also admitted to thinking about her answers in advance of interviews.
In recent press conferences, Gu has cried over the recent death of her grandmother, defended her decision to represent China, and admitted to thinking planning out answers in advance
Boomer Esiason, the 1988 NFL MVP now working as a New York sports radio host, has heard enough from Chinese OIympic freeskier Eileen Gu, as he told his WFAN audience
‘I’m just a pensive person,’ she told reporters last week. ‘I’m a very introspective young woman. I spend a lot of time in my head, and it’s not a bad place to be. I journal a lot. I break down all of my thought processes. I think I apply a very analytical lens to my own thinking, and I modify it because it’s so interesting.
‘You can control what you think. You can control how you think, and therefore, you can control who you are. And especially as a young person, I’m 22, so with neuroplasticity on my side, I can literally become exactly who I want to be. How cool is that? How empowering is that?’
For those wondering, neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize and repair itself based on aging, learning, experience and even injury.
Still, Esiason did not seem too impressed with Gu’s responses, although he stopped short of explaining why.
Boomer Esiason is best remembered for his 1988 season, which ended with a Super Bowl loss
‘She is exceptionally bright and she has her answers,’ he said. ‘She knows how she’s gonna answer things, that’s for sure.’
While Gu has been a lightning rod for controversy at the Olympics, Esiason has been critical of American athletes for political statements at the Milano Cortina Games.
He recently said all Team USA Olympians ‘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 has been the subject of significant praise and criticism over those remarks.
The former Bengals and Jets quarterback is best remembered for guiding Cincinnati to Super Bowl XXIII, where Joe Montana’s San Francisco 49ers were ultimately victorious. Esiason won NFL MVP honors that season, but appeared in only two more postseason games over the final nine years of his career.