Sunday’s AFC championship game was a run of the mill telecast for the CBS NFL Today crew. The broadcast went great, and the fans inside M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore couldn’t have been more friendly, according to Boomer Esiason.
But that all changed once Esiason and colleagues Nate Burleson and Bill Cowher were aboard the Amtrak Acela to take the trip home to New York on Sunday afternoon.
According to Esiason, a Ravens fan was cordial with the crew when they first met, but then began espousing conspiracy theories about how the NFL was rigged.
“… He decides that he’s gonna come over and he’s gonna talk to us about how the NFL is rigged,” Esiason said on WFAN on Monday. “And he’s using very colorful language.”
Esiason said he wanted to ensure he wasn’t being too brash toward the belligerent fan, so he checked in with the person sitting next to him. The impartial observer confirmed the fan was out of line. The person sitting next to Esiason, as it turns out, worked in analytics for the New York Giants.
“I said, ‘Listen, if he gets any closer, I may have to get up and effing smash this guy right in the face.’ And I’m pissed off now. I’m trying to watch the [NFC championship], and this idiot is screaming about how the NFL is rigged.”
According to Esiason, Burleson was ready to fight the guy on the train.
“Nate’s ready to come out of his suit and ready to rip this guy’s face off,” Esiason added. “… It was nuts.”
Hopefully, the crew’s final game of the season for the Super Bowl, which will be televised on CBS in two weeks, goes more smoothly.
