Saints coach Sean Payton says NFL was pushing to have him fired after Bountygate
The Saints coach apparently almost wasn't the Saints coach after Bountygate
By
John Breech
•
3 min read
One of the harshest penalties ever given to an NFL coach was handed down in 2012 when the league dropped the hammer on Saints coach Sean Payton for the role he allegedly played in the team's bounty scandal.
In March 2012, Payton was given a one-year suspension following the NFL's investigation into allegations that the team was paying bounties to defensive players for any crushing hits that they would make on their opponents.
Although the one-year suspension was harsh, apparently the NFL wanted to go even further than that. According to Payton, the league actually pushed to have him fired from his job. Payton described his version of events this week during an interview on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger."
According to Payton, the league office wanted him fired because they were trying to "break" him.
"When you say a year and you're not able to talk to any coach and you're not able to talk to any other player and you know that the league office actually contacted two other owners to talk to Mr. Benson about finding a way to have you fired," Payton said. "Like, they are trying to break you."
Payton said he only knew about the potential firing because former Saints owner Tom Benson shared the information with him.
"Well, I just know that the late Mr. Benson -- to his credit -- came to me and said, 'I had just gotten two calls from two other league owners,' and I knew that came from the league office," Payton said.
Basically, it seems the two owners encouraged Benson to fire Payton and the Saints coach knew that directive came from the league office. Payton made sure to let both owners know that he knew about their lack of support at the next league meeting he was eligible to attend in 2013 by giving them a backhanded thank you.
"I remember getting back that year," Payton said. "Being at the owners meetings and having a chance to go over to -- it would be normal to go over and say hello to another owner and another team -- and having a chance to go over and say hello to the one owner and thanking him for all the support in a way where he looked and said, 'You're welcome.' And then finding the other owner and doing the same thing and then it just felt good to sit back down."
"So they knew you knew?" Bensinger asked.
"Absolutely," Payton responded with a giant grin on his face.
Based on the interview with Bensinger, it still sounds like Payton isn't a fan of the league office. The Saints coach said that one of Roger Goodell's biggest flaws is that he leads with too much emotion.
"Look it's one of the weaknesses of our commissioner: There's too much emotion," Payton said. "When the penalties came down it was just, it was foolish."
Payton was so upset by the suspension that six and a half years later, he still remembers the exact moment he found out about it, which came during a call with Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.
"I remember when Mickey called and I said, 'What is it?' And he said, "Well, you're suspended a year.' And I was like, 'A year?'" Payton recounted. "You can't talk to any coach, you can't talk to any player, it was unprecedented."
In the end, Payton got his job back and led the Saints to a playoff berth in 2013.
Payton's entire interview with Bensinger will air this weekend (check your local listings). You can see a preview of the interview by clicking here.
(Editor's note: This story originally said that the two unnamed owners were on Payton's side. To decide for yourself about how Payton feels about the owners and the league office, you can hear him tell the story of the two owners by clicking here and starting the video at the 4:25 mark)
