Chris Russo did not vote for Boomer Esiason in the Radio Hall of Fame

Chris Russo celebrating Boomer Esiason being inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame came across about as thoughtful as a Mike Francesa eulogy.

The Radio Hall of Fame announced Esiason as part of its 2026 class of inductees earlier this week. A first-ballot Hall of Famer, Esiason joins Don Imus, Mike Francesa and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo as other WFAN hosts who received the honor.

Wednesday afternoon, Russo applauded Esiason, his former WFAN colleague, for getting into the Hall of Fame.

@Alsboringtweets @JerryRecco @GioWFAN a little long but hilarious shoutout from Russo for Boomer’s HOF. Stay for the next topic at the end… pic.twitter.com/0EEpVCFbfp

— Derek Nelson (@_derekn) May 21, 2026

“Congratulations to Boomer Esiason, the old quarterback, FAN forever, and ever, and ever,” Russo said on his radio show. “He followed of course with Craig Carton after Imus got fired, he moved into those shoes. That’s not that easy. That was in 2007 and he’s still hanging in there now, 19 years later…he had a different partner and everything else, got elected into the Hall of Fame. Great job for Boomer as far as that is concerned, I’m happy for him.”

That’s very nice of Chris Russo, who spent one full year as a colleague of Esiason’s before he left WFAN in 2008 to launch Mad Dog Sports Radio on SiriusXM. Esiason’s relationship with WFAN also spawned when he was quarterbacking the Jets and had a weekly spot on Mike and the Mad Dog. But after celebrating Boomer Esiason for getting into the Radio Hall of Fame, Russo hilariously noted it was no thanks to him.

“I had a vote, and I was maneuvering and figuring who to vote for and everything else,” Russo said. “And I think I left Boomer out, which I shouldn’t have done.”

If Russo didn’t vote for Esiason, then who did he vote for? Joining Esiason in the 2026 Radio Hall of Fame class will be Dennis Green, Shotgun Tom Kelly, Hellen Little, Bob Pittman, Rickey Smiley, Charlie Van Dyke, and Fred Winston. And while they and others are surely deserving of the honor, is Russo really paying much attention to radio DJs in Birmingham, Dallas, San Diego, or other markets around the country?

This may have been a better story if Boomer Esiason fell one vote short of the Hall of Fame on his first ballot. But Chris Russo’s vote ultimately didn’t seem to matter much for Esiason, who will be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame later this year anyway. And as one of the most important hosts in WFAN history, much like Russo, Francesa and Imus are, Esiason deserves to be a first-ballot Radio Hall of Famer.