Tag: Kevin James

LOOK: Sean Payton on set for ‘Home Team’ cameo with Kevin James

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton was spotted by TMZ Sports in costume for a cameo on the “Home Team” Netflix film set with Kevin James.

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Sean Payton’s 2012 suspension from the NFL has become the subject of a Netflix feature starring Kevin James from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions, and the New Orleans Saints coach has given the team more than his blessing — he’s dressing up for a cameo, as seen in a TMZ Sports photo gallery from the “Home Team” film set.

The story centers on Payton’s experience coaching his son’s Pop Warner team while suspended following the NFL’s “Bountygate” debacle, in which the Super Bowl-winning coach dealt with frustrations like working with children and the complex single wing offense; Payton later joked about calling his mentor Bill Parcells and peer Jon Gruden for advice.

As for Payton’s cameo: we’re short on details, but he appears to be wearing a mechanic’s uniform (codename: Lionel) and one of the worst wigs I’ve ever seen. If he was trying to one-up Drew Brees’ getup for Undercover Boss a few years back, he fell far short of the mark. Maybe his acting chops can make up for it.

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Kevin James, ‘Home Team’ cast visit Sean Payton at Saints facility

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton will be portrayed by Kevin James in the Netflix comedy “Home Team,” which prompted James to pay a visit

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Kevin James, method actor. The comedian chosen to portray Sean Payton in “Home Team,” an upcoming Netflix feature from his friend Adam Sandler’s production company, visited the New Orleans Saints head coach at the team’s practice facility along with some guests — cast members Rob Schneider and Taylor Lautner, plus Chris Titone, the film’s writer and Sandler’s brother-in-law who also happens to be dating Payton’s daughter Meghan.

Lautner is best known for his role in the “Twilight Saga” franchise but has recently appeared in a few of Sandler’s movies from Happy Madison Productions, while Schneider is a longtime Sandler collaborator with acting credits dating back to the late 1980’s. Sandler’s wife, Jackie, and nephew, Jared, are also slated to appear in the film alongside Isaiah Mustafa, a former Arizona State wideout who spent four years bouncing between NFL practice squads before starting his acting career and rising to prominence in viral Old Spice advertising campaigns.

Their roles haven’t been announced yet, but the film’s story is loosely based off of Payton’s experience coaching his son Connor’s sixth-grade Pop Warner team during his one-year suspension following the NFL’s “Bountygate” debacle, which occurred just two years after Payton’s team won Super Bowl XLIV. Filming is expected to begin later this year.

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Sean Payton responds to news of Kevin James’ portrayal in Netflix feature

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton briefly discussed the news of Kevin James being cast to portray him in the Netflix film “Home Team.”

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Plenty of people were caught by surprise at the announcement that Saints coach Sean Payton will be played by the actor and comedian Kevin James in “Home Team,” a Netflix movie inspired by Payton’s experience coaching his young son’s football team during his 2012 NFL suspension. But Payton wasn’t one of them.

“Listen, I’m at that age where I don’t really care,” Payton told ESPN’s Mike Triplett. James doesn’t have the greatest resemblance to Payton, now or at the time, when the Saints coach picked up a vigorous CrossFit fad. Maybe that ends up becoming a plot point.

Payton explained the backstory to Triplett; his daughter Meghan is dating Christopher Titone, brother-in-law to Adam Sandler, a friend of James’ whose Happy Madison Productions company is behind the upcoming film. Titone sold the idea to Sandler, who tasked him with putting a script together.

NBC Sports’ Peter King reported that Payton perused the script and offered some input, and Triplett adds that the Saints’ Super Bowl-winning coach has already spoken with James about being cast in the role. Payton spoke highly of James and Sandler’s past work and anticipates them to do “a great job” in adapting his story.

But he took time to point out this won’t be a beat-for-beat retelling of his experience in exile from the NFL. The focus — and much of the comedy — will be centered on a well-known coach working with a youth team just years after winning a world championship. There’s plenty of material to work with, so it’ll be fun to see how it’s all reflected through the Happy Madison lens.

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Sean Payton responds to news of Kevin James’ portrayal in Netflix feature

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton briefly discussed the news of Kevin James being cast to portray him in the Netflix film “Home Team.”

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Plenty of people were caught by surprise at the announcement that Saints coach Sean Payton will be played by the actor and comedian Kevin James in “Home Team,” a Netflix movie inspired by Payton’s experience coaching his young son’s football team during his 2012 NFL suspension. But Payton wasn’t one of them.

“Listen, I’m at that age where I don’t really care,” Payton told ESPN’s Mike Triplett. James doesn’t have the greatest resemblance to Payton, now or at the time, when the Saints coach picked up a vigorous CrossFit fad. Maybe that ends up becoming a plot point.

Payton explained the backstory to Triplett; his daughter Meghan is dating Christopher Titone, brother-in-law to Adam Sandler, a friend of James’ whose Happy Madison Productions company is behind the upcoming film. Titone sold the idea to Sandler, who tasked him with putting a script together.

NBC Sports’ Peter King reported that Payton perused the script and offered some input, and Triplett adds that the Saints’ Super Bowl-winning coach has already spoken with James about being cast in the role. Payton spoke highly of James and Sandler’s past work and anticipates them to do “a great job” in adapting his story.

But he took time to point out this won’t be a beat-for-beat retelling of his experience in exile from the NFL. The focus — and much of the comedy — will be centered on a well-known coach working with a youth team just years after winning a world championship. There’s plenty of material to work with, so it’ll be fun to see how it’s all reflected through the Happy Madison lens.

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Twitter reacts to Kevin James-as-Sean Payton news

Saints fans, supporters of rival teams, and media observers had a field day with the news that Sean Payton will be portrayed by Kevin James.

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The football world was rattled on Monday when NBC Sports’ Peter King reported that the comedian and actor Kevin James has been cast to portray Saints coach Sean Payton in an upcoming Netflix feature, which is expected to chronicle Payton’s experience coaching his son’s Pop Warner team during his 2012 suspension from the NFL. Observers on Twitter have been letting react gifs and jokes fly fast and furious, including a terrific parry by the Saints when the dirty-bird Falcons tried to get in a dig:

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Kevin James is going to play Sean Payton in a Bountygate movie and we have so many questions

This is really happening.

Kevin James — yes, yes, I hear your Paul Blart, Mall Cop jokes, but he is the King of Queens and a very good and successful actor — is not the name I would have expected to play Sean Payton.

But that’s who’s been cast in a flick called Home Team, which — per Pro Football Talk’s Peter King — will be produced by Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions.

The premise, according to King: “The plotline begins in 2012, when Payton is suspended for the season by commissioner Roger Goodell for the Saints’ bounty scandal, which gives Payton the chance to re-assess his life and put it in some perspective. As part of his new life, Payton becomes the offensive coach for his son Connor’s sixth-grade football team, the Warriors, in the Dallas area.”

The questions I have aren’t necessarily about James playing Payton. I kind of see a resemblance.

They’re about the fact that there’s a movie being made out of Payton’s year of suspension over the bounty scandal that rocked the New Orleans Saints — the NFL investigated and subsequently found evidence that then-defensive coordinator Gregg Williams had installed a bounty program that would pay players for certain plays, including many that injured opponents.

Payton’s role? From USA TODAY Sports: “NFL commissioner Roger Goodell punished him for not stopping the program run by former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and then for allegedly trying to cover up the mess.”

So what kind of movie is this going to be? Given James’ and Sandler’s involvement and the premise of a decorated NFL coach spending a season with his son’s sixth-grade team — Wright Thompson wrote about it years ago in the pages of ESPN the Magazine — are we talking about a laugh-out-loud straight comedy here? The coach who has lost his way but finds that the child-like love of the game is what makes him whole again?

Because if that’s the case, it feels like it’s glossing over the fact that a head coach in the NFL allegedly tried to cover up a major scandal that involved his players getting extra pay for maiming opponents. Yes, it’ll be one of those “based on a true story” movies that puts a glossy sheen on whatever really happened, so no one’s expecting hard truths.

But when you see that, per King, “Payton read the script recently [and] made some corrections,” it makes you think it’ll be some heartwarming PR for the coach, and we’ll all have a good laugh over James bumbling as he tries to teach the kids how to defend the single-wing and calls up Bill Parcells (he really did that! And who’s playing Bill?) to get advice.

Given that the movie will be filmed later this year, we’ll find out in 2022 if that’s what it’s like. But I really hope it’s not just a light-hearted comedy.

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Report: Kevin James tabbed to play Sean Payton in upcoming Netflix movie

Happy Madison Productions has cast Kevin James to play Saints coach Sean Payton in an upcoming Netflix movie about his Bountygate suspension

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Well here’s a curve ball. Peter King came up with a big scoop for his “Football Morning in America” column with Pro Football Talk, reporting that the actor Kevin James has been cast as Saints coach Sean Payton in a movie for Netflix, created by Happy Madison Productions. It’s titled “Home Team,” and begins filming this year. Here’s the plot summary from King’s report:

“Imagine this: The plotline begins in 2012, when Payton is suspended for the season by commissioner Roger Goodell for the Saints’ bounty scandal, which gives Payton the chance to re-assess his life and put it in some perspective. As part of his new life, Payton becomes the offensive coach for his son Connor’s sixth-grade football team, the Warriors, in the Dallas area. (Thus, the “Home Team” title of the flick.)”

King adds that Payton has already okayed the script after proof-reading it and offering his input. The Super Bowl-winning coach has spoken often about his one-year sabbatical, joking about the struggles of facing a single wing offense while coaching his son’s Pop Warner team (forcing him to call up his mentor Bill Parcells for advice) and the frustrations of watching games like any other fan from his recliner, filling notebooks with observations.

As for James: the veteran comedian and screenwriter was a high school wrestler and football player, and rose to prominence in the lead role on “King of Queens,” a long-running CBS sitcom. This move continues his string of successful comedies with Happy Madison Productions: founded by his friend and frequent collaborator Adam Sandler, Happy Madison has featured James in movies including “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,” “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (and its sequel), both “Grown Ups” ensembles, and a series of one-offs.

King did note that James may have to hit the weight room to accurately reflect Payton’s physique. Payton did come out of his suspension as a Crossfit junkie, even incorporating some of the techniques into the Saints’ conditioning drills, so maybe there’s some material there to build a subplot around. The film is still in pre-production, but we’ll keep an eye out once we know more about it and its cast. Maybe Sandler, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, or one of their other friends will cameo as Roger Goodell.

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Trailer for Netflix’s new NASCAR comedy with Kevin James makes the show look… not great

If fans of Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive were looking for something comparable about NASCAR, this isn’t it.

Netflix has a new comedy series about NASCAR debuting next month, and, based on the trailer the streaming service released Friday, it looks… not great.

If fans of Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive — a captivating and in-depth docuseries about the people, intricacies and politics inside F1 — were looking for something comparable about NASCAR, this isn’t it.

Starring Kevin James, The Crew is set to premiere on February 15, one day after NASCAR’s season-opening Daytona 500, and it’s a 10-episode series, Deadline reported back in December. Per NASCAR, James plays a crew chief for a complacent fictional team, Bobby Spencer Racing, and things get complicated when the team’s owner hands control over to his daughter, who’s looking to modernize the team and raise its season expectations.

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In all honesty, The Crew looks like a combination of the King of Queens and the roughest of rough drafts of a scene in Talladega Nights that was rightfully abandoned for lacking any humor or satire.

The premise of The Crew seems reasonable enough for a NASCAR show because there’s often a clash between drivers’ and teams’ old-school ways of operating and the innovation of the future. But between the flat jokes and the effort it takes just to get through the trailer, the show looks far from appealing.

James plays an apathetic crew chief whose expectations are probably too low even for a backmarker team, and he appears entirely unbothered by his similarly lazy and idiot driver who gets distracted mid-race by a cloud that looks like Abraham Lincoln.

Just in the trailer, the team’s incompetency feels like an over-used punchline that’s supposed to keep viewers entertained and laughing. And you’ll know when to laugh, of course, because the audience’s chuckles — and not a laugh track, as the showrunner noted — will tell you.

The biggest positive takeaway is that the show will emphasize NASCAR as a team sport, rather than encouraging a common misconception that it’s an individual one.

To be fair, it’s challenging to judge the quality of an entire show off the 135-second trailer, so perhaps this assessment is premature. However, a trailer is supposed to advertise and intrigue people enough so that they eagerly stream the show when it’s released. The Crew‘s trailer really doesn’t accomplish that.

We’ll still give it a chance when it’s released, but some fans didn’t seem too impressed by the trailer either and had mixed reactions.

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