On Friday, a scathing interview from Sean Payton dropped in USA Today, and it was precisely the kind of interview that needed to be said regarding the Denver Broncos. I am so glad that the team's head coach is not afraid to be blunt. This is the NFL, after all, perhaps the toughest, most demanding, and most rewarding league in the entire world.
The interview that Payton gave dropped on Friday, and it's filled with some stellar quotes from the Super Bowl-winning, future Hall of Fame head coach, who was traded to the Denver Broncos earlier this offseason. To say the least, Payton brings a winning pedigree to the Denver Broncos, something that has escaped them since Gary Kubiak was in town, and it's not like Kubiak was even in the same zip code as Payton in terms of coaching greatness.
Below is a series of quotes from Payton during the interview, that was conducted by Jarrett Bell:
"“I’m going to be pissed off if this is not a playoff team."Sean Payton (via USA Today)
“It doesn’t happen often where an NFL team or organization gets embarrassed,” Payton said. “And that happened here. Part of it was their own fault, relative to spending so much (expletive) time trying to win the offseason – the PR, the pomp and circumstance, marching people around and all this stuff. “We’re not doing any of that. The Jets did that this year. You watch. 'Hard Knocks,' all of it. I can see it coming. Remember when (former Washington owner) Dan Snyder put that Dream Team together? I was at the Giants (in 2000). I was a young coach. I thought, ‘How are we going to compete with them? Deion’s (Sanders) there now.’ That team won eight games or whatever. So, listen…just put the work in.”
“Man, we ran that kid through the car wash a hundred times now,” Payton said of Wilson and questions of how this coach-quarterback dynamic will play out. “But that’s a storyline, though. How is this going to look? How’s it going to work? You know what? We’re fixing to find out. As Bill would say.”
“Oh, man,” Payton began. “There’s so much dirt around that. There’s 20 dirty hands, for what was allowed, tolerated in the fricking training rooms, the meeting rooms. The offense. I don’t know Hackett. A lot of people had dirt on their hands. It wasn’t just Russell. He didn’t just flip. He still has it. This B.S. that he hit a wall? Shoot, they couldn’t get a play in. They were 29th in the league in pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball.”
“That wasn’t his fault,” Payton said of Wilson. “That was the parents who allowed it. That’s not an incrimination on him, but an incrimination on the head coach, the GM (George Paton), the president (Damani Leech) and everybody else who watched it all happen.
“Now, a quarterback having an office and a place to watch film is normal. But all those things get magnified when you’re losing. And that other stuff, I’ve never heard of it. We’re not doing that.”"
And these aren't even all the quotes from this interview. I mean, my goodness. Sean Payton did not hold anything in during this interview. Not only has it made it very clear that he believes Russell Wilson still has it, but he was not shy about throwing the blame on the appropriate parties from the 2022 season, which was likely one of the worst in team history.
There also seems to be some indication that Payton's comments upset some people within the organization, and former Broncos even spoke out about his comments. Here's the thing, though; where did Payton say anything even remotely wrong? Nothing, not a spec of dust that was blown during this interview was wrong.
Sean Payton was 100% correct about the 2022 Denver Broncos, and for years the organization has tried to sell the fanbase false hope from aging, veteran quarterbacks and horribly unqualified head coaches. Now, things are different. The team traded insanely valuable draft capital to acquire Payton and also paid him a ton of money.
The team spent hundreds of millions of dollars in free agency, which has now created what looks like one of the better rosters in the NFL. To me, anyone who has an issue with what Sean Payton said during this interview is and was part of the problem. Why not state the facts? I loved reading this interview article in USA Today. It was truly a breath of fresh air.
Sean Payton put his foot down, established expectations for the 2023 season, and has had previous success to back it up. Let's ride, y'all.