April 17: Elusiveness = a spy and a good Bengals QB

April 17 — OTD in GenX history, a beautiful spy and a Cincinnati Bengal who was really good at football …

Jennifer Garner (1972), 49, got our attention long before she started asking what was in our wallets. She was a spy in “Alias” (2001–06), a superhero in “Daredevil” (2003), and showed some comedic shops in “13 Going on 30” (2004) before a 10-year marriage and three kids with Ben Affleck.

Norman “Boomer” Esiason (1961) turns 60 today. The 14-year QB for the Bengals (1984–92), Jets (93–95), Cardinals (1996), and Bengals again in 1997 was the last Bengal QB to guide the team to a win in the playoffs. That was in 1990. His son, Gunnar, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 2, prompting Esiason to establish a foundation to raise funds for research.

— — —

Chyna died OTD in 2016. Joan Marie Laurer had been billed as the “Ninth Wonder of the World” when she emerged on the scene with Degeneration X in the WWE in 1997. Her wrestling career ended in 2011, but she’d battled mental health and addiction issues for a number of years, and she was found dead in her Redondo Beach, Calif., home after a likely overdose.

— — —

OTD in NFL Draft history …

1999 — Tim Couch went first overall to the Browns, but Pro Bowlers went in eight of the next 10 picks. First-round Hall of Famers Edgerrin James and Champ Bailey went in the first round.