“That Was an Execution”: Boomer Esiason Goes Scorched Earth on ICE Agents in Minneapolis, Stunned WFAN Listeners with Tearful Rant
SPORTS MEDIA | NEWS & OPINION
“That Was an Execution”: Boomer Esiason Goes Scorched Earth on ICE Agents in Minneapolis, Stunned WFAN Listeners with Tearful Rant
Published January 8, 2026
NEW YORK, NY – Boomer Esiason is the voice of New York mornings.1 As the legendary quarterback-turned-broadcaster and co-host of WFAN’s Boomer and Gio, he is expected to dissect Jets losses, analyze quarterback play, and complain about his Rangers. While he isn’t afraid of an opinion, he generally steers the morning show clear of heavy, divisive political tragedies.
That rule was shattered on Thursday morning. In a segment that began with NFL playoff talk, the mood in the studio shifted drastically when the topic turned to the viral video of an ICE agent shooting a woman in Minneapolis.
In a stunning departure from sports talk, Esiason delivered a raw, furious, and at times emotional condemnation of the law enforcement agents involved, leaving his co-host Gregg Giannotti and thousands of commuters listening across the Tri-State area in stunned silence.
The Segment That Stopped the Show
The controversy surrounds a Wednesday incident in Minneapolis where an ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman.2 While the Department of Homeland Security claims the woman attempted to run over agents, viral bystander video appears to show the vehicle reversing and driving away before an agent fires three shots into the cabin.
Boomer, known for his “old school” mentality and deep respect for authority, shocked listeners by firmly siding with the victim and echoing Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s demand for accountability.
“I’m looking at the monitors here, and I can’t get this video out of my head,” Esiason said, his voice dropping an octave, losing its usual radio energy. “We talk about discipline in football. We talk about knowing your assignment. But what I watched there? That wasn’t police work. That was a loss of control.”
“I Know the Difference Between Fear and Malice”
Esiason, visibly reddening on the simulcast video feed, slammed his hand on the desk.
“Don’t tell me she was a threat,” Boomer shouted, cutting off a producer. “I’ve been in pressure cookers my whole life. I know when someone is attacking and when someone is running. That car was in reverse. It was leaving. And that agent… he didn’t fire to protect himself. He fired because he was angry she wasn’t listening. That is an execution. That is murder on camera.”
He continued, leveraging his status as a leader to critique the tactics. “You wear the badge, you hold the gun, you are held to a higher standard. You don’t get to be judge, jury, and executioner just because someone hits the gas pedal in a panic. It made me sick to my stomach.”
Siding with the Mayor
In a move that surprised many of his more conservative listeners, Boomer explicitly defended the Democratic Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, who had told ICE to “get out” of the city.
“I hear people ripping the Mayor,” Esiason said. “But let me tell you something. If a federal agency came into New York and started shooting up neighborhoods like it was the Wild West, I’d tell them to get the hell out too. Mayor Frey is right. You can’t have cowboys running around with badges creating chaos. It’s unsafe. It’s unprofessional. And it cost a woman her life.”
A Father’s Perspective
The segment took a somber turn when Boomer, a father and advocate for cystic fibrosis research, personalized the tragedy.
“I think about my own family,” he said, his voice cracking slightly. “I think about if that was someone’s daughter who just made a bad split-second decision to drive away because she was scared. Does she deserve to die for that? Is that the penalty for fleeing? A bullet in the chest? God, no. We have to be better than this.”
The “Stick to Sports” Backlash and Praise
The reaction to the segment was instantaneous. The WFAN phone lines lit up, and social media became a battleground.
For a figure like Boomer Esiason—often viewed as a representative of the “law and order” sports demographic—this take was a massive pivot.
“I usually agree with Boomer, but he’s wrong here. You don’t run from cops,” read one text to the station. Another caller shouted, “Stick to the Bengals, Boomer!”
However, a significant portion of the audience praised his moral clarity. “I’ve listened to WFAN for 20 years,” one caller said, sounding emotional. “I’ve never heard Boomer sound like that. He’s right. Right is right and wrong is wrong, and I respect him for calling it out.”
By the end of the show, it was clear that Boomer Esiason had done something rare in sports radio: he stopped the noise, ignored the “stick to sports” mandate, and used his microphone to demand humanity in a moment of national tragedy.
