The video opens on a montage of old photographs showing a young blond boy. First, a photo of him looking down with wet hair, followed by a photo of him in a blue winter jacket with a fur-trimmed hood. Piano music plays throughout. A black-and-white photo shows a baby sitting in a bathtub, followed by a photo of the young boy looking directly at the camera, showing his teeth. The next photo shows him in striped overalls smiling. A black-and-white photo shows a man in sunglasses carrying the young boy on his shoulders at a beach. They are both pointing at something in the distance.
Boomer: We have to make sure that he has memories good memories, good experiences, just every imaginable experience that I could think of to give him.
The screen splits. On the left: a photo of the boy walking on the beach. On the right: the photo of the man and boy pointing. Then, on the right, it changes to a photo of the boy as a toddler in a red jumper. On the left, it changes to a photo of the toddler in a black bunny costume sitting next to the blond man, who is smiling broadly. Another split screen shows a close-up black-and-white profile of the boy's face on the left, and a photo of him as a child standing on a golf course on the right. A black-and-white photo shows the blond man wearing a baseball cap and holding the young boy. The man holds up a hockey puck that says "RANGERS".
Boomer: I didn't know how long he was going to live.
A photo shows the man and the boy smiling together. The boy wears a grey sweater with an American flag. The next photo shows their faces pressed together in a black-and-white close-up, followed by a photo of the man holding the toddler in front of some cabinets.
Boomer: I was praying it was going to be a long time, and I was praying for a miracle. But in the meantime, I still had to be a dad, and we still had to create memories.
A photo shows the boy as a child, swinging a golf club, with other golfers in the background. The photo is bordered by a collage of other photos. The center photo transitions to a photo of the man hugging the boy, and then to a black-and-white photo of the man and the boy as a teenager, smiling together. A man with short blond hair and a blue suit jacket speaks to the camera from an office chair. Behind him, there are framed photographs and hockey memorabilia on a cabinet. A blue box with white text appears in the bottom left corner.
On-screen text:
Boomer Esiason
Former NFL quarterback
UnitedHealthcare member
Boomer: Unfortunately for us in our family, our son Gunnar was diagnosed with a chronic disease of cystic fibrosis in 1993.
A close-up shows Boomer speaking with a serious and emotional expression.
Boomer: My heart dropped. It was the saddest day of my life.
A photo shows Boomer holding a toddler with a pacifier in his mouth, followed by a close-up of their faces. The next photo shows Boomer carrying the boy on his shoulders as the boy raises his arms in celebration.
Boomer: I had never dealt with any emotion quite like that, and the sinking feeling that you have as a parent that you let your child down, so there's a guilt aspect to it.
Boomer speaks to the camera from the office chair.
Boomer: When my son Gunnar was diagnosed with CF, I used every quarterback skill I possibly could to get a grip on it and to show that, you know, I could be the leader through this.
A black-and-white photo shows Boomer in a football jersey sitting on a bench, cradling a baby in his arms. The next photo shows Gunnar as a young boy looking up inside a locker room, followed by a photo of Boomer putting on a jersey while Gunnar watches him. A photo shows Boomer in a grey suit holding Gunnar next to a podium, followed by a Sports Illustrated magazine cover displaying their picture and the headline "A Quarterback's Crusade". A photo shows Gunnar as a toddler holding silver balloons.
Boomer: For somebody who has advanced CF, the lungs are actually dying along the way.
A photo shows young Gunnar wearing a medical nebulizer mask.
Boomer: It's like breathing through a straw.
A photo shows Gunnar as a toddler lying in bed with a blue plush dinosaur. The next photo shows Gunnar as a boy with long blond hair sitting at a table, followed by a close-up of Gunnar as a teenager with braces, smiling.
Boomer: It's hard to sleep. There's going to be a lot of depression. You try to keep them alive until something comes along that is going to make a difference.
Boomer speaks to the camera.
Boomer: And I became a member of UnitedHealthcare, and thank God for them and the coverage that they gave our family to make sure that Gunnar was living, breathing to benefit from the drug discovery in 2017.
Boomer speaks to the camera from the office chair.
Boomer: UnitedHealthcare made it easier for us to deal with that, because that's the stress, that's the thing that you don't see. That part of it was never stressful, and I'm so thankful for that.
A photo shows a smiling adult Gunnar in a green Dartmouth sweatshirt, holding a small dog in one hand and a paper card containing pills in the other.
Boomer: Gunnar was on the trial, and we knew literally a day and a half, two days in, that he had gotten this new drug because his life immediately changed, switched. Like his body switched on.
A photo shows Boomer and Gunnar, both in tuxedos, smiling broadly. The next photo shows Gunnar speaking at a podium with the initials "BEF" on it. A photo shows Gunnar smiling in a white t-shirt and white baseball cap outside, followed by a split screen with a black-and-white photo of Gunnar in a suit on the left and a photo of him smiling in a white Dartmouth t-shirt on the right.
Boomer: Everything just kind of like blew up all at once. Gunnar is an amazing young man who is now 35 years old.
Boomer speaks to the camera.
Boomer: Most CF men are born without a vas deferens, so they have a natural vasectomy.
A photo shows Boomer in a blue suit and Gunnar in a red suit standing together at Gunnar's wedding.
Boomer: Right before Gunnar was getting married, Gunnar handed me my Father's Day gift, and it was a sonogram of my grandson to be born that coming December.
A photo shows a close-up of a person holding a framed ultrasound image of a baby.
Boomer speaks to the camera, looking deeply emotional and proud.
Boomer: And he looked at me and he said, "Dad, I am the biological father." And that sadness that I felt the day that he was diagnosed was 180 degrees from what I was feeling the moment he handed me that sonogram.
A close-up shows Boomer speaking as he chokes up slightly with tears in his eyes.
Boomer: I couldn't speak for three days. I was levitating. I was having an out-of-body experience.
A photo from behind shows Gunnar carrying his young son on his shoulders as they walk down a tree-lined residential street.
Boomer: Those are the feelings of winning. That's truly winning.
A split screen shows the photo of Boomer and young Gunnar holding the Rangers hockey puck on the left, and the photo of Boomer and adult Gunnar in tuxedos on the right.
Boomer: I tell people all the time, you know, that he's my hero. That's how I feel about my son.
The screen fades to white. The UnitedHealthcare logo appears in blue. The piano music fades.
On-screen text:
UHC
uhc.com
Boomer Esiason and his family have coverage through Oxford Health Insurance Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group and affiliate of UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company. Oxford insurance products are underwritten by Oxford Health Insurance, Inc.
UnitedHealthcare is proud to sponsor the Boomer Esiason Foundation in their quest to find a cure for cystic fibrosis.
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