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Former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton made a cameo in a dynamite report from ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham on the fall of longtime NFL personalities Jon Gruden (the ex-Las Vegas Raiders coach) and Dan Snyder (the soon-to-be former Washington Commanders owner). Payton has been close friends with Gruden for decades, dating back to their early careers together with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Back in the 2020 season at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, both Payton and Gruden were fined $100,000 for violating the league’s health and safety protocols after failing to properly cover their faces during a high-profile game at the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium. But ESPN reports that only Gruden paid up.
“I never paid the fine,” ESPN quotes Payton as telling Gruden, “You’re the only dumbf— that paid the fine.”
ESPN adds that Payton claimed multiple other coaches declined to pay their fines; the NFL issued discipline to a group including Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks), Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers), and Vic Fangio (Denver Broncos), though it’s unclear who Payton was allegedly referring to.
Payton has a famously frosty relationship with the NFL head office in New York stemming from the 2012 Bountygate scandal, so it’s not too surprising that he would refuse to pay up if not forced to. The Saints were later docked a 2022 sixth-round draft pick for additional COVID-19 policy violations, being the only team in the league to do so (the Raiders also initially forfeited a draft pick, but won it back upon appeal). We’ll have to wait and see whether Payton’s acrimonious relationship with league commissioner Roger Goodell has followed him to Denver.
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