NYC Radio: Carton & Roberts Launch On WFAN

In bringing back Craig Carton, Neil Best At Newsday writes WFAN 101.9 FM / 660 AM did what sports executives long have aimed to do when making draft picks: It grabbed the best available player.

Like him or not – and both positions certainly are valid – Carton is a talented, attention-generating, pot-stirring radio personality, and adding him to the lineup made it better.

Will his partnership with Evan Roberts, unveiled on Monday, be a long-term solution for a time slot that has been in flux for three years?

"It’s Day One, hopefully of thousands of days," Carton said shortly after the five-hour marathon began at 2 p.m. "It’s a thrill for me to be back personally and professionally, and to be working with you."

The "you" was Roberts, who urged Carton to take 10 seconds to soak in his return after a 38-month absence. But he made the mistake of reminding Carton he was in a studio named for his old WFAN archenemy, Mike Francesa.

"See, now why did you have to go and do that?" Carton said. "I’m having a kumbaya moment on request and you had to go and ruin it like that."

Carton & Roberts For the First Time https://t.co/ZQK26jkGvd

— Tom Benson (@Tombenson1) November 10, 2020

A key ongoing question is how the show will balance sports and non-sports talk. On Monday, the hosts quickly got to the Giants’ victory over Washington but soon veered off in many directions.

Boomer Esiason, Carton’s former morning partner, left him a stuffed pony as a welcome gift, a reference both to the pony Esiason had as a child and the fact Carton has said part of his therapy was talking to a horse.

That therapy resulted from a gambling problem that contributed to his legal troubles, and which Carton addressed during the show.

"I was a knucklehead," he said. "I was full of myself and I was out of control in my private, personal life . . . I’m a long way away from being even with people I hurt. I own that and I recognize that."

Before Roberts read the day’s first ad for a gambling site, Carton explained that he will not be doing such reads or talking about point spreads and odds at all.

"It doesn’t mean I’m leaving the room; it doesn’t mean I’m against it," he said. "You should be allowed to enjoy that and not feel weird about it because I’m sitting here."