WFAN's Mike Francesa Calls MNF's Booger McFarland 'Ham-and-Egger' after Eli Manning Criticism

WFAN radio host Mike Francesa apparently didn't appreciate Booger McFarland's criticism of quarterback Eli Manning during the Giants' win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.

The legendary New York radio host responded to McFarland's claim that Manning wasn't a future Hall of Famer. According to Francesa, the analyst incorrectly said that Manning had only been to the playoffs twice -- during both of his Super Bowl victories --which led to the radio host downplaying the former NFL lineman's legacy by comparison to the quarterback.

"When do you see a player, who's an ex-player, go out of his way to minimize the Hall of Fame candidacy of another player?" Francesa said. "I have never seen a player ever on any broadcast go out of his way to try to tell you why a player is not...he's in the fraternity, he's a player. He didn't just try to tell you he didn't think he was a Hall of Famer, he tried to make sure you did not think for one second that Eli had a chance to be a Hall of Famer. Why would you as an ordinary player, 'ham-and-egger,' why would you talk about a guy who's been a 15-year starter, was the first player picked in the draft, a guy who is in the top-10 in multiple playoff categories and is one of five two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks and you're going to spend all that time trying to rip his career apart?

"I mean, it was obvious he had a major agenda. I don't know why he has a major agenda, I could care less, I have no interest."

Francesa noted that McFarland's colleague, former Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, did believe that Manning -- who is a frequent guest of Francesa's program, "Mike's On" -- is a future Hall of Famer.

Manning led a game-winning touchdown drive on Monday night after weeks of struggles and media scrutiny. It was the 36th game-winning drive of the two-time Super Bowl MVP's career, but only his second during the past two seasons.

McFarland is also a two-time Super Bowl champion as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. The former first-round draft pick recorded 188 tackles, 22.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception during eight NFL seasons (1999-2006).

Francesa has been on a tangent lately, last week targeting several WFAN colleagues including "Boomer & Gio" hosts Boomer Esiason and Gregg "Gio" Giannotti.

"Giannotti, stop with the impersonations of me. I mean, enough already. Get some new material, please," Francesa said. "No wonder your show stinks. Jeez. Giannotti, I mean, he is short on ability, I'm sorry. I'm sick of the impersonations. I listened to them this morning, they stink."

Francesa also called Giannotti and fellow WFAN personality Chris Carlin "morons" while implying that an alteration between the two hosts took place outside the WFAN studios, which a source confirmed never happened to The Post on Wednesday. Giannotti addressed the rumored incident in a three-rant last week in which he called Francesa a miserable, insecure narcissist.

"Carlin approached me in the street, and he was angry about that [parody] song I wrote for James Dolan, about no one listening to 'CMB,' and we talked it out and hugged at the end, and it turned into 'those two morons rolling around in the street in a UFC fight, two morons out there punching each other,'" Giannotti said.

Esiason acknowledged the jabs at Francesa during an appearance on Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" podcast last month, but noted that he didn't have any animosity toward his WFAN colleague.

"I don't hate him," Esiason said when asked of Francesa. "I think he's actually good for the station and I think he's great for us in the morning because we make fun of everybody. We make fun of ourselves, we make fun of Joe and Evan, we've made fun of 'CMB,' we make fun of Steve Somers. If you work here we make fun of you and we make fun of our ownselves, especially when you listen to Eddie Scozzare with all the drops that he drops into our show and he tries to make us look ridiculous. So everybody is fair game to the people who work here on the air and off the air."

"He should [reciprocate]," Esiason added. "I mean sometimes he does. Sometimes he'll say we're jealous or mindless or whatever."

In October, Francesa sided with Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan's decision to ban WFAN host Maggie Gray from events at the arena, which includes covering New York Knicks and Rangers games, as well as interviewing players after she called Dolan a "vile piece of trash."

Gray's program, "CMB," initially took over Francesa's afternoon slot when the host retired last December before he returned to WFAN and reclaiming his time slot in April.