5 facts about Denver Broncos HC Sean Payton you didn't know

Sean Payton is one of the best coaches of the last 25 years of NFL football. Almost immediately upon his arrival in New Orleans with the Saints, Payton established a winning culture and in time -- even with bumps along the road -- he would become the winningest coach in Saints franchise history as well as one of the top 25 all-time winningest head coaches in NFL history.

His career winning percentage of .631 is tied for 23rd-best all-time with Curly Lambeau. His winning percentage is 5th-best among active NFL coaches with more than 50 games coached (sorry, Matt LaFleur). Only five active NFL coaches have more career playoff wins than Payton. He was the 2006 NFL coach of the year. Between 2006-2021, Payton had just three offenses rank outside the top 10 in scoring, and two of them ranked 11th and 12th.

Only twice did Sean Payton ever have offenses in New Orleans rank outside the top 9. One of those two non-top-10 offenses ranked 12th in the league in yards.

In terms of NFL coaches, I think it's fair to say that Sean Payton is a living legend. And some of those facts, you may have already known about him. But what might you not already know about Sean Payton? There are some interesting facts about him personally that may pique your interest...

5 unique, interesting facts about Denver Broncos HC Sean Payton

1. Sean Payton has a Jordan Brand endorsement deal

You may have seen Sean Payton rocking Air Jordan Retro sneakers for years and years, but did you know the basketball GOAT himself informed Payton that he wanted him to become the first coach endorsed by Jumpman?

How's this for a first interaction with Michael Jordan?

"Michael just built a [golf] course down in Florida, and I had a chance to tour it. And he was just finishing a round and I had never met him. He said, ‘I’m gonna make you my first Jordan coach.’ And I was kinda like, ‘Huh?’ And sure enough, two weeks later, I get this email. Yeah, so, it’s Jumpman right now."

Sean Payton (via ESPN, 2020)

This is not a slight Jordan Brand hobby Sean Payton has going on. Payton is deep in the Sneakerhead realm with some of the shoes he's rocking these days...

This man has golfed in Concord Jordan 11s...

It's going to be fun to see what Jordan Brand shoes Payton shows up in basically on a daily basis. Broncos Country has certainly taken note of his shoe game and it's become a discussion point just about every time he makes an appearance at this point.

For all my fellow sneakerheads out there, let us bask in the fact that the Denver Broncos' head coach will be keeping us entertained with his shoe selection on a daily basis.

2. Sean Payton went to the same college as Broncos legend Mike Shanahan

This would be way less cool as a fact if the two had gone to UCLA or USC or some major school that everyone knows about. It's way cooler of a fact considering that Sean Payton and Mike Shanahan both went to Eastern Illinois, which actually has quite an illustrious NFL alumni list.

The hit rate out of Eastern Illinois seems pretty high.

Not only do you have two legendary NFL coaches in Sean Payton and Mike Shanahan, but you've also got quarterbacks Tony Romo and Jimmy Garoppolo. There have been 25 NFL players from Eastern Illinois, 15 of which were drafted. Another fun sub-fact within this fact? One of Sean Payton's teammates at Eastern Illinois -- Roy Banks -- was one of those 15 players drafted (5th round, Colts, 1987).

Another fun sub-fact within this fact? Mike Shanahan actually used a third-round pick on Eastern Illinois defensive back Chris Watson in the 1999 NFL Draft. Eastern Illinois helping out Eastern Illinois.

Perhaps the most amazing sub-fact within this sub-fact is that Mike Shanahan and Sean Payton actually had to duke it out in 2003 for the right to sign undrafted free agent quarterback Tony Romo. Payton was the offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys under Bill Parcells from 2003-2005, and actually wanted to bring Romo with him to New Orleans when he was hired by the Saints in 2006.

Bill Parcells wouldn't trade Romo to the Saints, so Payton moved to acquiring Drew Brees. Romo became the starter for Dallas in 2006 and was one of the better QBs in the league for a decade. The fact that his NFL career started with a battle after the 2003 NFL Draft between the Broncos and Payton's Cowboys is riveting NFL history.

Maybe the Broncos should have just drafted Romo in 2003.

3. Sean Payton was Marshall Faulk's position coach at San Diego State

You may not have already known that Sean Payton got his first coaching gig at San Diego State as an offensive assistant in 1988. You also may not have known that after leaving SDSU in 1989, Payton returned to the Aztecs program in 1992 to be the team's running backs coach. His star student at the time?

None other than NFL Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk. Payton coached Faulk from 1992-93 and Faulk became the second overall pick of the 1994 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. I'm sure that's no coincidence. Of course, Faulk is a legendary talent, but the fact that his path crossed with Sean Payton's just before he jumped to the NFL is pretty incredible.

Faulk was a Heisman finalist in each of his two years with Sean Payton as his position coach, finishing as the runner-up in 1992. The work Payton did with Faulk certainly gained him recognition in the coaching community, and he was named offensive coordinator at Miami (OH) in 1994. That was his first-ever offensive coordinator gig.

The pairing of Faulk and Payton in each of their formative years of playing and coaching simply couldn't be a more perfect historical foundation. Faulk is known as being one of the smartest and most versatile backs in league history, and Payton is obviously known for maximizing offensive talent. Faulk is the definition of maximized offensive talent.

Before Alvin Kamara played an NFL down, Sean Payton compared him to Marshall Faulk. It's often considered the worst form of hyperbole to give players lofty comparisons like that, but I would say that comparison from Payton has really turned out to be quite appropriate in terms of Kamara's abilities as a runner and receiver.

4. Sean Payton was a "replacement" player for the Chicago Bears

Before he became a coach, Payton was a pretty darn good player. At Eastern Illinois, his jersey no. 18 is retired. He spent a couple years after his time at Eastern Illinois bouncing between being on and off professional rosters from the Arena League to the Canadian League, but in 1987, he was actually a quarterback for the "Spare Bears".

Affectionately known as the Impostors of the Midway, the 1987 Chicago Bears replacement players were called upon during the NFLPA strike that season. Interestingly enough, another "Spare Bear" player -- safety Mike Stoops -- went on to become the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats from 2004-2011.

The strike happened in the middle of the season, and lasted just a handful of games. The Bears went 2-1 during the strike and Sean Payton completed eight passes in those games for 79 yards. He didn't throw any touchdowns but the fact is, he was in the NFL during one of the most bizarre times in league history.

Imagine if something like that happened today...

Payton's time with the Chicago Bears was brief, but he would become the starting quarterback of the Leicester Panthers in 1988 (in Europe) for a season before turning to the coaching ranks.

Is anyone else catching Drew Brees-Saints vibes in that photo, or is it just me? Just the number nine?

5. Sean Payton coached in the first-ever game at Invesco Field at Mile High

In 2001, the Denver Broncos debuted a brand-new stadium. At the time, it was called Invesco Field at Mile High. The first game at that stadium was a Monday Night Football matchup between the Broncos and the visiting New York Giants.

After a tight game through three quarters, the Broncos would pull away in the fourth quarter of a 31-20 victory.

At this stage of his coaching career, Sean Payton was the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants, a position he would hold from 2000-02. So, Payton was there for the first regular season game ever played at the stadium -- now called Empower Field at Mile High -- he will now coach at as the head man of the home team.

What's really crazy about this particular fact is that the game between the Giants and the Broncos was played on Monday, September 10, 2001. The Giants flew back home the next morning and arrived at around 6 AM on September 11, 2001. The details of the Giants' arrival that fateful day -- as told in an article in the New York Times in 2005 -- are chilling, to say the least:

"The game ended after midnight Eastern time. The United Airlines charter carrying the Giants landed in Newark just before 6 a.m. A flight attendant on the team’s next trip told players that their plane had parked at a gate next to where United Flight 93 had departed — the 8 a.m. flight to San Francisco that was one of four planes hijacked on Sept. 11.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Giants executives who had cars parked at the airport walked through the terminal, perhaps past passengers on Flight 93. Players and coaches went down the side stairs to the tarmac and boarded a bus for Giants Stadium. Players got in cars and went home. Coaches and administrators went to their stadium offices to start preparing for the next game."

New York Times, 2005

Sean Payton recounted the events as he remembered them 20 years after the fact. It's pretty amazing how vivid he -- and I'm sure many, many others -- can still recall the events of that day (and many of the days thereafter).

The NFL would go on to postpone Week 2 of that season and reschedule games for later on. The Denver Broncos started the year 3-1 but faltered to an 8-8 record and missed the playoffs after winning 11 games the year prior.