BOOMER ESIASON JOINS USA FOOTBALL

In his USA Football role, the 14-year NFL veteran with experience in youth, high school, college, and professional football, will promote the national governing body’s 100 training and development events in 2008, reaching coaches, game officials, and youth league administrators. Esiason also will serve as a spokesperson for USA Football’s “Play Football – it’s more than a game” campaign which calls attention to the sport’s characteristics of teamwork and leadership.

The NFL’s 1995 Walter Payton Man of the Year also will contribute as a writer for usafootball.com and the quarterly USA Football Magazine, sharing his insight as both a former player and “Football Dad.”

Esiason, 46, CBS Sports/Westwood One’s NFL radio color commentator for Monday Night Football, the NFL playoffs, the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl and serves CBS’s “The NFL Today” as a studio analyst. The Long Island, New York, native co-hosts the “Boomer & Carton” radio show with Craig Carton on New York’s WFAN-AM and hosts “The Boomer Esiason Show” on the Madison Square Garden Network. The possessor of seven 3,000-yard NFL passing seasons also chairs The Boomer Esiason Foundation which raises funds to fight cystic fibrosis, a disease his son, Gunnar, battles.

“Having Boomer join USA Football further strengthens America’s favorite sport,” says USA Football Executive Director Scott Hallenbeck. “We provide resources for the game’s coaches, administrators and officials – especially at the youth level – to enrich every football experience. Boomer’s love for football melded with his integrity and leadership qualities are a great fit for USA Football.”

“I’m excited to join the USA Football family,” says Esiason. “As a long-time player, a football father and a fan, it’s a privilege to contribute to the world’s greatest sport and do all I can for the kids, volunteer coaches, parents, and game officials who make this game ‘America’s Passion.’

“Football’s legacy of teaching is generational. People like me who care deeply about this sport recall how great it was to be part of it as a youngster – we need to make sure that it’s even greater for the kids who love to play it today and USA Football is doing that.”

Esiason joins New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini as USA Football’s top spokespeople and contributors with NFL playing or coaching experience. Mangini has served USA Football as a coaching program advisor and spokesperson since July 2007.

Whether you’re a coach, official, or league administrator, visit usafootball.com to join the USA Football family. Learn what technology and resources are available to you to ensure great experiences for all involved within America’s favorite sport.

USA FOOTBALL KICKS OFF ITS 2008 “PLAY FOOTBALL” CAMPAIGN
American-Themed Commemorative Ball Tour & “I Played” Testimonials Boost Football’s Calendar

“Play Football … it’s more than a game” is USA Football’s year ’round theme sounding the timeless qualities of the country’s favorite sport, which accounts for nine of the ten most-watched programs in American television history. More than a call to action, “Play Football … it’s more than a game” is an emotional bridge connecting the sport’s values to parents, coaches, officials, players and every member of the “football family.”

USA Football’s Commemorative Ball Tour features a red, white and blue, stars-and-stripes-designed football. The ball commemorates the game’s values and how they are forever linked to America. USA Football personifies this melding of game and country, teaching football’s fundamentals and its timeless qualities of leadership, responsibility and teamwork. These values are found within the 3.2 million youngsters who fuel its youth leagues, the more than 400 high schools with girls-specific football programs, and the 1.13 million high school boys who play it, more than doubling the next-most popular sport among that group.

The eye-catching ball will appear at football events nationwide, including the NFL Draft and training camps, college games, Pro Football Hall of Fame Weekend, USA Football coaching schools, officiating schools, and player academies, high school all-star games, and other grassroots football gatherings. Ball photos capturing the game’s spirit and strong emotional pull are continually posted at usafootball.com.

“I Played” offers all who have experienced football on any level – as a player, fan, parent, or volunteer – to share their football stories at usafootball.com and express what the sport means to them. Hundreds of “I Played” submissions will be featured at usafootball.com and USA Football Magazine, the non-profit’s quarterly publication.

“I Played” is the central theme of USA Football’s media campaign planned for this summer, promoting how people contributing to society through varying careers gained values and strengthened their character through football.

“To play football, you need to know its fundamentals, but the game means so much more than that,” says USA Football Executive Director SCOTT HALLENBECK. “The pulse-quickening emotion football generates captures our imagination, which powers the ‘Play Football’ campaign. The Commemorative Ball Tour and ‘I Played’ story sharing are exciting ways to better recognize and celebrate what the game means to us.”
About USA Football
USA Football, based near Washington, D.C., is the sport’s national governing body on youth and amateur levels. The non-profit provides coaching and officiating education through more than 100 football-specific training events annually. The organization awards more than $500,000 in equipment grants to youth leagues and high schools each year based on merit and need along with additional resources. Former U.S. Congressman and pro football quarterback JACK KEMP is USA Football’s chairman. USA Football was endowed by the NFL and NFLPA in 2002. For more information, visit usafootball.com.