Boomer Esiason, the quarterback turned commentator and radio host, is one of those former players who jumps at most opportunities to raise money for a cause he enjoys. So when the Friars Club asked him to be the next person to be "roasted" at its fundraiser, he couldn't say no.
"I have no idea why I did this and I have second thoughts every day because I know my friends are going to torch me," he told ThePostGame.
The roast will take place during Super Bowl week in New York, and Esiason will join the ranks of Betty White, Jack Black and more who have sat in the seat. The proceeds from the roast will benefit the Boomer Esiason Foundation, as well as the Gift of Laughter Wounded Warrior Program.
"I just think it was too good of a opportunity to pass up and it is a very distinguished roast if you will," Esiason added. "And when they asked me there was a bit of trepidation, but after I started thinking about it and Super Bowl week in New York City, I said, what the hell I can laugh at myself."
After all, as any NFL player and former NFL player knows, a roast isn't much different than what happens on the field and in the locker room every day. As a quarterback, Esiason said he avoided instigating anything because "last thing I wanted to do was incite or entice people to get angry at me as it went on." He said he remembers getting the best jibes from Dexter Manley, Howie Long and Brian Cox, who got some of his best digs in while Esiason was on the Jets during some of the leaner years.
"We were not a good team in 1995, and he was relentless from the first whistle to the last whistle he was yapping the whole time," Esiason said. "And there's not much I could have said back to him because we were so bad that day. Part of losing is you have to be able to listen to the nonsense that comes from the other team."
Esiason said he's not sure who exactly will be participating in his roast, but warns he'll be prepared to fire back with his best.
"It will be harder for me to make fun of me than me make fun of them," he warned. "I’ve been roasted before back when I was a Bengals player. It's not like I haven’t been there before and it's not like I haven’t turned red before."
