After becoming a cult hero in New Orleans for having the Saints be a beacon of hope during the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina, Sean Payton became a national sensation when his team took down Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV in a gutsy and dramatic fashion.
But Payton fell from grace hard in 2012 when it was discovered that, at the very least, he had covered up and lied to the NFL about a bounty system that Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams had installed. New Orleans was paying players to hurt opponents, and Payton's hands were far from clean.
He was suspended for the entirety of the 2012 NFL season but somehow came back to coach the Saints for nearly another decade. Then, Payton became the Las Vegas Raiders' problem in 2023 when he was traded to the Denver Broncos and became their head coach.
All of this is to say that Payton hasn't proven himself to be the most stand-up leader in the NFL, and folks should tread lightly around him. It will make Raider Nation frustrated, then, when they hear who the Broncos' head coach can sometimes call to spark inspiration.
Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady apparently speaks with Broncos HC Sean Payton
ESPN's Seth Wickersham recently wrote a tome of an article in which he walked through, in immense detail, Denver's playoff journey from last season. He touched on everything from how long the team's coaches stay at the facility to what plays the Broncos installed to how many cokes Payton has a day.
It was interesting, then, when Wickersham included this nugget about Payton's attempts to find inspiration from others to find a competitive edge. Wrapped into this is, unfortunately, Raiders minority owner Tom Brady.
"He also picks the brain of any coach, regardless of sport or level, for insight. At home, he binges shows, both to quiet his mind and to find something worth drawing from. On the drive to work, he'll call Tom Brady, or John Elway, or Wayne Gretzky, or even people like me for crying out loud, hoping casual conversation brings inspiration."
Now, let's clarify a few things first: Brady isn't selling state secrets about the Silver and Black to Payton, nor does Brady seem aware that Payton has a motive behind these phone calls. But it still strikes me as a bit weird for Brady to be on the phone with a rival coach at all during the season.
And if you're wondering about the timeline here, let's go through that as well. Brady played until 2022, so we can rule out that Payton was talking to another active player during the week, especially one who, for years, was an NFC South rival of his when Brady was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Payton didn't coach in 2022 anyway, and then he accepted the Broncos job in late January of 2023. A few months later, in May of 2023, Brady and his group entered an agreement to purchase a minority stake in the Raiders, and it was made official in October 2024.
So, there's not much, if any, overlap here where a conflict of interest wouldn't have been possible. And I'm not blaming Brady; he probably just views this as one of many calls that he fields from any number of notable people during the day. If he knew he was helping out the Broncos, he'd probably stop.
Hopefully, Brady gets his eyes on this article, realizes what Payton has been doing, and stops talking to him. It was a bit weird anyway. And that's where we bring this full circle and recognize how shady Payton is once again, and how much caution the Silver and Black should operate around him with.
After not just encouraging, but incentivizing, his players to injure opponents, which completely degraded the integrity of the game of football, is it a stretch to conclude that Payton could be using his friendship with Brady to, at the very least, help the Broncos, if not hurt the Raiders?
I wouldn't put it past Payton. And I just don't love that these two are ever on the phone in-season.
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