The hilarious reason why WFAN's Gregg Giannotti missed Boomer Esiason's Radio Hall of Fame ceremony

Gregg Giannotti found out Real ID is a real thing on Thursday — and it caused the WFAN morning host to miss Boomer Esiason’s Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Chicago.

Giannotti, the co-host of the “Boomer & Gio” show and a Bellport native, was not allowed to fly on the private plane that took Esiason and his guests to Chicago for the ceremony, which was held on Thursday night.

The reason? Giannotti did not have a Real ID stamp on his driver’s license. That upgrade has been necessary to fly since May 7, 2025. Giannotti’s passport would have been accepted, but he didn’t anticipate needing it for a trip to Chicago.

“It’s a private flight,” Giannotti said on the air on Friday. “So the pilot comes back and he’s checking IDs. Now I’m thinking to myself, like, this is different because I’ve flown with Boomer probably six times and never once have they ever checked an ID. So I’m like, OK, whatever, I have my driver’s license on me, no big deal. So he’s going through and then he gets to my ID and he’s looking at it and he’s looking at it and he goes, ‘Is this a REAL ID?’ I said, ‘No, it’s not a REAL ID.’ ‘Is it an enhanced ID?’ I don’t know what that means . . . So he’s like, ‘Let me go check.’ And he goes and takes the ID and I’m thinking there’s just no way this is going to be an issue, right?”

It was. Giannotti was told he couldn’t fly and had to deplane.

Gio was escorted off the plane and missed Boomer's Radio Hall of Fame induction😂 https://t.co/IM8lFcDo2V

— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) October 9, 2026

“So I get up and I say, ‘They’re not taking me because I don’t have the Real ID,’ ” he said. “Boomer goes, ‘All right. See ya.’ ”

Craig Carton, Esiason’s first morning show partner, also did not attend the ceremony because he anticipated needing to be in New York to do his WFAN afternoon show from Yankee Stadium on Thursday before what would have been Game 4 of the ALDS against Tampa Bay.

The Yankees were eliminated on Wednesday night, and that was the topic du jour on WFAN all day Thursday.

“I, being a good employee and a guy who understands where he should be at moments like this had to bail on that Hall of Fame ceremony so I could be here with you to do the show,” Carton said to co-host Chris McMonigle on the air on Thursday afternoon. “That’s my job.”

Carton said he was “upset that I’m not going because I wanted to be there for my main man. But it’s more important that I do my job. That’s what they pay me to do. And after the Yankees get eliminated, you gotta work.”

Esiason, who grew up in East Islip, said of the ceremony: “It was really a well-done ceremony. I was certainly honored to represent our station, our company.”