Ex-NFL Quarterback Boomer Esiason Says What Everyone's Thinking on Caitlin Clark Abuse - It's Racial
Retired Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason said the quiet part aloud — the treatment of the Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark has to do with her being straight and white.
In a video clip from his radio program “Boomer and Gio,” Esiason told co-host Gregg “Gio” Giannotti, “If I were Caitlin Clark, I would seriously consider going to play overseas somewhere and get the royal treatment.”
After Gianotti sarcastically quipped Saudi Arabia as a possible option and Esiason ruled out Russia after the controversy stemming from the Brittany Griner conviction and prison sentence, he said, “A lot of the women actually do play in European leagues because they supplement their income.”
After acknowledging that “Caitlin makes a ton of money off the court,” he said “there’s a petty jealousy and she’s a straight, white basketball player, and she is not being treated with any sort of respect whatsoever.”
“If I were Caitlin Clark, I would seriously consider going to play overseas somewhere and get the royal treatment…she’s a straight white basketball player. And she is not being treated with any sort of respect” – Boomer Esiason pic.twitter.com/zeFRdOMLVn
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 25, 2026
The New York Post reported that Esiason’s comments come just days removed from the Fever’s game with the Mercury at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Clark was fouled by the Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas in a moment of poor sportsmanship and blatant aggression, which involved Thomas thrusting a closed fist into Clark’s neck when she was on the ground.
Caitlin Clark got punched in the throat & stepped on by Alyssa Thomas.
No foul, of course 🙄 pic.twitter.com/peBy5K3kfi
— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) June 25, 2026
Thomas received a Flagrant Foul 2 penalty and a one-game suspension for her actions.
The WNBA released a statement Thursday about Wednesday night’s game, saying, “Per WNBA rule, the League Office has the option, following its review of any game, to reclassify a Flagrant foul or to classify as Flagrant any foul not called as such during a game and may impose a fine and/or suspension.”
“Thomas will serve her suspension on June 27, when the Mercury visit the Toronto Tempo.”
The WNBA has seen a significant uptick in viewership from Clark’s entry in 2024.
Actor James Woods made note of the treatment, concluding on social media, “Eventually they will kill or cripple her. Then their ratings will go back to zero.”
Indeed, she’s putting eyes on the game, and the league knows she’s possibly the only reason viewership is rising.
Clark is not the first or only white player — she just happens to be the best, creating jealousy and animosity.
Esiason was not the only one factoring race into the matter. This is a black-dominated sport where a white athlete is getting the attention. There’s going to be a reaction, even if that doesn’t mean every black player despises her.
When the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson played against the Philadelphia Phillies at home in early 1947, Philadelphia manager Ben Chapman admitted he told players to call Robinson every name in the book, unleashing on him as the first black player in Major League Baseball, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.
Robinson’s career was the beginning of breaching the color line in sports, but now after continued division brought on by critical race theory, the divisiveness brought on by the Obama administration, and diversity initiatives, there’s been a period of regression.
Colorblindness is dissipating, but the white players are taking the brunt, as we’re seeing with Clark.
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