WFAN’s Boomer Esiason is a known Rangers superfan, but with his son-in-law Matt Martin preparing to begin his second straight Eastern Conference Finals with the Islanders, the question needs to be asked: is Boomer pulling for his favorite team’s hated rivals?
Martin seems to think so.
“Yeah, I think he is,” Martin said on the Zach Gelb Show on Thursday. “If we were facing the Rangers in the conference finals it would be a different story. He’s definitely rooting for us. His partner Gio was at the game yesterday and has shown us a lot of love on air. More love than Boomer has shown us, for sure.”
Now that Martin is family, Boomer likely has no choice but to root for the other New York team, the one that is now in the midst of its second straight deep run into the postseason. But Boomer supported Martin rejoining the Islanders in 2018, as the Rangers were beginning their rebuild, and he will (quietly) continue to support Martin and the Islanders as they prepare for a rematch with the Lightning.
Just don’t expect Boomer to be too outwardly supporting given his allegiance to the Rangers.
“One thing I’ve learned here is that women in families are more loyal to family than men,” Martin said. “Obviously Syndey [Martin’s wife and Boomer’s daughter] is an Islanders fan now. Cheryl [Boomer’s wife], Gunnar’s [Boomer’s son] fiancé Darcy, they’re all really rooting for us and always watching the games, and then Gunnar and Boomer are rooting for us, but at the end of the day their heart lies with the Rangers.”
While Boomer may be subtly pulling for Martin and the Islanders to reach the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1984, that doesn’t mean his efforts to turn Martin and Syndey’s daughter Winnie into a Rangers fan have stopped.
“He’s already tried to do a few things, blankets and whatnot that we have to get rid of some of that stuff,” Martin said of the Rangers apparel he’s found at the house, courtesy of Boomer. “He always talks about that while I’m on the road he’s going to bring Winnie to Rangers games and whatever, so there’s always that game being played. But I enjoy it. He comes to see Winnie a lot. He loves her and she loves him, but as much as possible, we want to keep her in the orange and blue and keep those other colors out of it.”
It’s all in playful fun, but if Martin and the Islanders are able to complete the journey and bring a Stanley Cup to New York for the first time since the Rangers won in 1994, he might not forget where Boomer’s allegiance lies.
“Hopefully we can bring home the Cup, and they’re not allowed to touch it,” Martin said.
Listen to Martin's full interview on the Zach Gelb Show below!
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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