New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton recently announced that he was relocating his family to Dallas, Texas. Many Saints fans were alarmed. Talk radio shows lit up with callers concerned about the coach’s commitment to the team. Sports reporters speculated that Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones may be angling to draw Payton over to Jones’ club in some capacity. Being the committed blogger and Saints fan that I am, I fired up the DeLorean, switched on the Flux Capacitor and revved her up to 88 miles per hour to find out just HOW Coach Payton’s move would impact the team.
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| What I go through for the readers. 1 |
(The following is actual audio obtained and transcripted from the future)
At the Saints practice facility on David Drive in Metairie, LA on a Wednesday during the 2011 regular season….
Payton: Good day of work. See you tomorrow.
Player: See you, Coach. (player’s car door closes)
(car pulls up)
Cabbie: Where to, Coach? The usual?
Payton: Yep. I cut practice a little short so I wouldn’t miss risking tonight’s flight home.
(at the airport)
Cabbie: That’s gonna be $25, Coach. See you tomorrow morning?
Payton: Yep. The flight comes in at 5:30 am. We have a meeting at 7 sharp, so be waiting for me and there is an extra twenty in it for you.
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| Coach Payton's ride to work. 2 |
Beth Payton (Sean's wife): Sean we have a dinner guest. Jerry Jones dropped in.
Jones: Sean how’s it going? I’ll bet you can’t wait to start driving home again.
(both laugh aloud): Heh heh heh heh!!!
Payton: Hey “Jerr”! It’s just a matter of time before I get myself fired! I used to sleep in my office; now I don’t even sleep in town anymore! How ‘bout dem COWBOYS!!??
(both men laugh and start telling stories)
Back to Life; Back to Reality
That transcript was from the alternate tangent 2011, from the same timeline in Back to the Future II where Biff was wealthy and ran Hill Valley. IT DOESN’T EXIST!
Some of the fears that many Saints fans have expressed are as ridiculous as the “future” scenario I laid out. I am from New Orleans. I understand, as much as anyone, what the Saints mean to the city, surrounding area, and the entire state of Louisiana (to a lesser degree). Let us examine some simple facts.
1) Sean Payton has two years remaining on his contract. To me, this should be the end of the discussion. Jerry Jones (or any other owner) knows that a team needs permission to speak with a Head Coach or Assistant Coach under contract or get slammed by the NFL for tampering.
Payton, of all coaches, is more aware of the perils of tampering in light of the protracted coaching dispute between the New England Patriots and New York Jets in 1997 (seems like those two teams have ALWAYS been beefing, huh?) involving Bill Parcells, Payton’s old boss. The Jets hired Bill Belichick (ironically, the iconic, hooded head coach of the present day Patriots) as the “Head Coach” and hired recently resigned, yet still under contract (and prohibited from coaching elsewhere under the contract), Patriots Head Coach Bill Parcells in an “advisory” role. The NFL cut through the crap and brokered a “compromise” between the Pats and Jets that would free The Big Tuna from his contract with New England.
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| Lee Corso on the possibility of Sean Payton leaving the Saints for the Cowboys. 3 |
Some compromise…! The Jets were fleeced of four draft picks, a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounder, over the next three seasons, rightfully so. The Jets would play for the AFC Championship, two seasons later, while the Patriots went from defending AFC Champions to just-above-average under replacement coach Pete Carroll, not recovering their status as an elite football team until hiring The Hoodie away from the Jets in 2000.
Has Roger Goodell ever struck you as a man with the patience to endure the kind of drama that his predecessor, Paul Tagliabue, tolerated between the Patriots and Jets in the late 90s? That was a rhetorical question. Tagliabue hit the Jets pretty hard and he seems like a pushover compared to Sheriff Goodell.
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I cannot imagine that Payton's living messiah status is much less that that of Brees. He signed up for this life. His wife and kids didn't. The fact that he is taking this step tells me that it is likely Beth Payton, Sean’s wife, has been unhappy, or less happy, for several months with New Orleans. These decisions are not made overnight with average families, let alone prominent high profile members of the community.
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| Beth Payton: "Pay it forward? You mean the moving van?" 5 |
3) If Sean Payton wants to leave New Orleans, it does not matter where he lives. If his motivation is to get a position with the Cowboys, given his past relationship with Jerry Jones, all Payton or Jones has to say is, “Let’s talk after your contract is up.”
Moving Payton’s family to Dallas two years in advance serves no purpose toward increasing the chances of working for the Cowboys. In fact, it creates a distraction that could detract from his coaching over the next two seasons and REDUCE the odds of Payton landing a more sought after gig. This move is not relevant because is does nothing to encourage or discourage Sean Payton from leaving in two years.
4) It is ultimately Tom Benson’s responsibility to take the steps needed to retain Payton in New Orleans in the long term. Benson has to maintain the relationship. Benson has to offer the right amount of money. Benson needs to keep New Orleans as a desirable place to coach. None of that has to do with the Dallas move and Jerry Jones is fully capable of wooing Payton from a distance after the 2012 season.
Rest easy, Crescent City. Sean Payton is simply taking care of Sean Payton. I think we should all be able to agree that the man’s family should come first in his life, before a football team.
Don't forget to vote in the fan polls!
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1) Image from texas.inetgiant.com
2) Image from tokyotomo.com
3) Image from rexqb.com
4) Image from ymswwc.wordpress.com
5) Image from nola.com
Beth Payton may be unhappy living here, but more than anything, she is unhappy with her husband. Loving couples support each other. They have plenty of time to move to Texas - if that is where they want to 'retire' - this is sadly, a case of separation. That's my take on it anyway and the only thing that makes sense. I am sorry to see the family leave.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for reading. I cannot write it and read it all by myself!
ReplyDeleteI'd be naive, being married myself, to think a separation is not a possibility. But there is no way I could justify mentioning those words in an artice and still look in the mirror based solely on a move.
On a human level, for coach Payton's sake, I hope that is not the case. These coaches really make incredible personal sacrifices to be NFL coaches. While his wife did not sign up to cede 100% of her family's private life (as this would not be the case in Dallas, D.C., Atlanta, or any megatropolis) she did sign up to be a NFL coach's wife and that personal sacrifice (or time) IS part of the deal.
The old proverb, "Behind every great man is a great woman," is not just a cute one liner for fortune cookies!