Boomer Made His Father a Prophet

His name is Norman Esiason, and they call him Boomer. He’s the left-handed quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals, and somebody wondered how he got his nickname.

Let his father tell it.

“Our first two children were girls,” Norman Esiason Sr. says. “My wife’s third pregnancy was so different. The baby was kicking all the time. I said, ‘This can’t be a girl. It’s got to be a boomer because he’s kicking so much.’ In my day, the punter was always called the boomer. Two or three people overheard me and picked up on it. Whenever they called they’d ask, ‘How’s Boomer doing?’

“It’s a real life story. He had his nickname before he was born.”

Add Bengals: Receiver Cris Collinsworth, asked about his fun-loving image and the stories of his off-the-field escapades, told Elton Alexander of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “I figure, when a guy comes home from work, and his boss has been grinding on him all day, he doesn’t want to pick up the sports page and have a guy talk about salary disputes.”

Collinsworth said he’s tried about everything, including racing a horse in a 50-yard dash.

“They wanted to take a picture of the finish,” Collinsworth said, “but the horse beat me by 47 yards. I couldn’t get into the picture with a wide angle lens.”

Trivia Time: In the Little Brown Jug games of 1938-39-40 between Minnesota and Michigan, what was remarkable about the performance of Michigan’s Tom Harmon? (Answer below.)

From Clipper forward Cedric Maxwell, on why he’s toned down his act since leaving Boston: “With the Celtics we backed up everything we said. People hated me all over the country. It was fun. But I ain’t got the troops behind me now. I’m like Custer. I point forward, say ‘Charge,’ and we’re surrounded by Indians.”

From New Jersey Net Coach Dave Wohl, disputing stories that this is his first head coaching job: ‘That’s not exactly true. I was coach of the Philadelphia Foxes in the women’s league for about three months before it folded. That whole experience is worth a book some day.”

The Washington & Jefferson football team outweighed Carnegie-Mellon by 40 pounds per man, but Carnegie-Mellon Coach Chuck Klausing said: “There is a theorem in physics that says a smaller force can move a larger force if the fulcrum is low and there is a greater acceleration. Our team knows that, because every player takes physics.”

Carnegie-Mellon outrushed Washington & Jefferson, 123 to 73 yards, and won the game, 24-17.

From Howard Balzer of The Sporting News: “A banner at the Louisiana Superdome had this greeting for New Orleans running back Earl Campbell recently: ‘If you can’t hold the football, put it between your cheek and gum.’ ”

Trivia Answer: Harmon, the Big Ten’s all-time scorer, failed to score a point in all three games. Minnesota won by scores of 7-6, 20-7 and 7-6.

Note: In the 1940 game, Harmon passed to Forest Evashevski for a touchdown but missed the extra point after making 12 straight going into the game. Minnesota’s Bruce Smith later ran 80 yards for a touchdown and the Gophers converted. Harmon won the Heisman Trophy in 1940, and Smith won it in 1941.

Quotebook

Miami Dolphin Coach Don Shula, on his attention to detail: “Someone once asked me if there wasn’t benefit in overlooking one small flaw. I asked him, ‘What’s a small flaw?’ ”