NFL legend Boomer Esiason is no stranger to controversy, and his latest target is three-time Olympic medalist Eileen Gu. With the Winter Olympics now over, the former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback spoke about Gu, the American-born freestyle skier who competes for China and finished her 2026 Milano Cortina campaign with three medals. However, instead of focusing on her achievements, Esiason criticized Gu for her post-event interviews.

“It’s not just about the money, though. She’s very attractive and extremely bright — she went to Stanford — but if you listen to her post-competition interviews, she can be insufferable,” Boomer Esiason said on his Boomer & Gio podcast. “It’s hard to listen to. Then again, it’s an individual sport, and she talks about herself rather than about teammates or the support system around her. I mean, she won yesterday — you can’t argue with that — but still.”

He further said, “That question a reporter asked her was interesting. The reporter said, respectfully, how much do you think before you speak? She pointed out how eloquent her answers are on everything, whether it’s the geopolitical climate or something that happened on the slopes — she always seems to have the perfect answer. Of course, no one asked her directly about the Chinese government. I will say she’s exceptionally bright and clearly knows exactly how she’s going to answer things. But no one has really pressed her with a tough question, and that last answer she gave just came off as insufferable.”

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Eileen Gu and fellow American-born skater Zhu Yi were paid a combined $6.6 million by Beijing’s sports authority in 2025, with their total earnings nearing $14 million over three years, and that report clearly struck a nerve with Boomer Esiason. Speaking on his radio show, Esiason took a sharp jab, questioning how “a communist country” could pay an athlete to serve as what he framed as capitalist-style propaganda.

Boomer Esiason’s comment about Eileen Gu surfaced in a clip featuring the star skier after her strong performance in the women’s freeski halfpipe final, where the 22-year-old successfully defended her gold medal. Charlotte Harpur of The Athletic later asked Gu whether she thinks before speaking, a compliment to her articulate, thoughtful answers across topics ranging from skiing to geopolitics.

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She showcased this talent of hers when she said, “Sorry, I’m going to get a little nerdy,” last week before explaining the minutiae of the trajectory, angle, and degrees of each of her jumps. Gu has displayed this articulation while answering questions about the spirit of the Olympics after winning her silver medal in the freeski slopestyle event.

“The whole point of sport is to bring people together,” she said, as per The Athletic. “One of the very few common languages, that of the human body, that of the human spirit, the competitive spirit, the capacity to break not only records, but especially in our sport, literally the human limit. How wonderful is that?”

While Eileen Gu continues to break barriers and script Olympic history while winning three medals at the Winter Games in Milano Cortina, Boomer Esiason is not a fan of her. In fact, it wasn’t the first time he’s weighed in on how Olympians should live or choose, and his comments quickly reignited debate around Gu’s decision to compete for China instead of the U.S.

It’s a polarizing move, no doubt. Still, while the money and politics fuel the outrage, athletes representing countries other than where they were born isn’t exactly new in global sports; it’s just rarely this loud, or this emotional. Nevertheless, for now, Esiason has faced major backlash for his comments during the Olympics.

Former ESPN producer hits back at Boomer Esiason after Olympics rant

Before calling out Eileen Gu, Boomer Esiason faced backlash for his previous rant about the Team USA Olympians who questioned the Donald Trump administration during the Winter Games. The former NFL MVP’s comments came up after halfpipe skier Hunter Hess and freestyle skier Chris Lillis expressed their displeasure with the United States at the start of the Winter Olympics.

However, this reaction from Boomer Esiason wasn’t well-received by former ESPN producer Mike Ryan, who called out Esiason during an appearance on the Dan Le Batard Show.

“You [Esiason] sit on the sidelines when Nick Bosa wears a MAGA hat on the postgame, where is the same energy?” Ryan said, via Awful Announcing. “A lot of people aren’t exactly thrilled with how things are going in this country. They [Olympic athletes] are using their one moment, in most cases, to highlight that, because that is universally American. And you want them to shut up? Quit being a [expletive], Boomer Esiason. Put your name to it. Say what you [expletive] mean!”

Eileen Gu’s three-medal performance at the 2026 Winter Games was remarkable by any standard. Yet the spotlight briefly shifted to Boomer Esiason’s critical remarks about her interviews, which many found unfair.