LEFTOVERS: Second-hand smoke gets Boomer high

Howard Cosell has nothing on Boomer Esiason when it comes to broadcasting under the influence on “Monday Night Football.”

While the late Cosell reportedly got drunk and vomited on broadcast partner “Dandy” Don Meredith’s cowboy boots during a Giants-Eagles game in Philadelphia in 1970, Esiason said he got high while calling a Chiefs-Patriots game on the radio in Foxborough, Mass., in 2000.

“I did get high. I did,” Esiason, a CBS Sports analyst, said recently on his radio show, “Boomer &Carton.” “I didn’t realize I was getting high when I got high, but I got high — and I have to tell you that it was one of the best broadcasts I’ve ever had.”

Esiason and his broadcast partners, Matt Millen and Howard David, didn’t smoke marijuana during the game, but Esiason insists they got high from breathing in second-hand smoke from the stands.

“The radio booth is like a lean-to in the middle of the stands. ... And there’s this grim reaper outside of our booth, and he’s got a hoodie on, and he’s got a big ol’ puffy jacket on, and he’s smoking weed. And he’s blowing it into the lean-to,” Esiason said. “I mean, we’re three minutes into the game, and Matt Millen’s already looking for something to eat. And Howard David is trying to keep us focused on the game, and Matt Millen and I are talking about everything but the game. We have the second-hand smoke going on.

“Now, we obviously know what’s happening, but we don’t necessarily know that we’re reacting to what’s happening. I was laughing my ass off for the entire first half!”

Portions of the broadcast replayed on Esiason’s radio show confirmed his account of the game. The story also helps explain the dreadful Matt Millen era in Detroit. Lions fans long have maintained their former team president must have been high when he made his draft picks.

As for the stoner in the stands, we have a good idea who it was. Hmm ... a grim man in Foxborough wearing a hoodie and blowing smoke? Who could that be?

■ RON BURGUNDY STYLE — Backward hat-wearing 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick isn’t the only member of San Francisco’s organization to be ripped recently for his appearance. Coach Jim Harbaugh was ridiculed on a San Francisco radio show Wednesday — by none other than his wife, Sarah — for always wearing pleated khaki pants on the sideline.

“I will not take the blame for his outfits,” she said on an impromptu call to the “Fernando &Greg” show. “I’ve thrown them away many times. I’ve asked him, ‘Please, pleats are gone. Wear the flat front.’ He has a flattering body.

“I threw them out, and when he went to the combine, he found a Wal-Mart. They were $8. Eight dollars! I said, ‘Next year, would you please let me dress you or let someone else?’ He agreed to that.”

According to “Anchorman” Ron Burgundy, Harbaugh’s pants might make it appear as if he’s overly excited on the sideline.

“It’s the pleats in the pants,” Burgundy said. “Don’t act like you’re not impressed.”

COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL