To understand how much Boomer Esiason likes hockey in general, we offer you the following evidence: He chose the No. 7 he wore throughout his 14-year NFL career, in part, because it was worn by New York Rangers great Rod Gilbert.

To understand how much the former quarterback and current CBS studio analyst loves his Rangers specifically, there’s a great tale involving his daughter Sydney and her boyfriend, Leafs forward Matt Martin.

As the story goes, when it came time for Sydney to bring Martin home to meet the family, she broke the news by telling Boomer she was dating a hockey player.

“Great,” said Boomer, immediately thinking of the possibility of having a Blueshirt in the family. “Is it Carl Hagelin? Is it Dan Girardi?”

No such luck. Finally, a somewhat sheepish Sydney had to fess up that it was Martin, then a rugged winger with the Islanders and thus despised by Rangers fans.

“So when I got home, I pulled into the garage, put on a Brad Richards Rangers jersey and walked into the kitchen,” Esiason said with a laugh. “I thought Sydney was going to bury herself in the couch for me embarrassing her like that. But we had a good laugh about it.

“Obviously, Matt’s a great guy and I love the way he plays. I told him I would root for him, just not when he plays the Rangers.”

Martin gets his latest kick at the Esiasons’ favourite team when the Leafs face the Rangers on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Both Boomer and his wife Cheryl will use the family’s season tickets and, while they’ll still be rooting for the home team, it will be easier to see Martin with the Leafs. As Boomer points out, at least there’s no orange in the Toronto uniform.

Rivalry and fan talk aside, Esiason is more than willing to share his own experiences from his lengthy NFL career, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals, but one that also included a stint in the football fishbowl that is New York while with the Jets.

“He calls me and texts me any time he needs to discuss and vent,” the four-time Pro Bowler said in an interview. “He knows I know the game and I know the league and he knows I’m invested in it.

“One of the things I always tell him is that my 14-year career just flew by, so enjoy it and make the best of it.”

When Martin, 27, was being courted by the Leafs last summer as a free agent and had a decision to make, Esiason offered advice that is becoming more prescient by the day, given the Leafs recent success.

“When he was struggling with the decision to leave, I told him, ‘You’re leaving a team with 20,000 hardcore fans to go to one that has 20 million hardcore fans,’ ” said Esiason, who if you weren’t paying attention, loves talking hockey as much as football. “Think of that for a second. It’s one of the premier sports teams in the world, let alone in the NHL. It may take a while before things come together and it’s not going to be easy, but it’s a great opportunity where the ups are going to be really high.

“Plus there’s the opportunity with Auston Matthews coming to town, to really be a part of something.”

Fittingly, Martin has embraced the role of mentor to some of the Leafs younger players. He spent the team’s recent bye week in the Caribbean, for example, with rookie Mitch Marner, among others.

The Leafs signed Martin to a four-year, $10-million US deal to protect the youngsters on the ice, specifically from bullying opponents. Away from the rink, he’s clearly become a valued personality in the Leafs room.

“Off the ice, ultimately, he’s a true gentleman,” Esiason said. “The really nice thing is not only does my daughter date him and is in love with him, he has a great relationship with my son, Gunnar.”

That connection is of particular importance to the family given Gunnar’s struggles with cystic fibrosis, a diagnosis that came when Boomer was still in the NFL and his son was just two. Since then, the Boomer Esiason Foundation has raised more than $100 million to help find a cure for the disease.

Now 25, Gunnar Esiason — like Sydney, a graduate of Boston College — lives a full life and has become fast friends with Martin.

“Gunnar loves sports and loves the fact that he can say he has a friend who plays in the NHL,” Boomer said. “How cool is that? Matt has become involved in the foundation and takes it seriously as he’s gotten to know Gunnar and they’ve become buddies.”

It’s clear that Boomer Esiason has plenty of use for Martin, whether in his hockey uniform or not.

“The fans loved him here every time he stepped on the ice, for the way that he played so hard,” Esiason said. “But getting to know him as I have reinforces everything I think about hockey players.”

Even if they happen to be wearing the wrong NHL jersey.

'I JUST LOVE THE GAME'

He is primarily known for his two football careers — first a long and respected stint as an NFL quarterback and now as an authoritative voice on CBS’s The NFL Today.

But, these days, Boomer Esiason gets his competitive juices flowing by playing beer-league hockey.

“I watch and I play, I just love the game,” Esiason said. “The great thing is we have a nice little group of guys down here (in the New York area) who get together to play.

“(Matt Martin) played with us in the off-season and the guys had fun with that.”

Most years, Esiason and pals travel to another city to play in a tournament, most often with the hope of catching a Rangers road game in the process. And with his daughter Sydney’s boyfriend Martin on the Leafs, they’re hoping Toronto will be a tourney stop in the future.

Esiason got a chance to experience another hockey moment this year when he and Craig Carton, his radio partner on the Boomer & Carton show on New York’s WFAN radio, called an Islanders-Penguins game from the Barclays Center.

rlongley@postmedia.com