Payton To Present Former Star QB At Hall of Fame Induction

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton had a tough day as he was forced to talk about linebacker Jonathon Cooper back and practicing with the Broncos, but he also got a chance to talk about being a presenter for his former star quarterback, Drew Brees, when the former New Orleans Saints quarterback goes into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 8, according to ESPN and multiple other outlets.  

Payton is practicing for the role, too. According to Nick Kosmider of The Athletic, he rehearsed his speech and had it taped so he could review it and get it right in advance of the big event.

“There’s a series of questions and statements for you (to respond to) as they put it together, and your fear is it’s not going to be good enough or complete enough; at least that’s how I felt,” Payton said Thursday at Broncos training camp. “But (the producers) were here the whole day and I asked if they were going to (still) be there after (minicamp) practice. I said, ‘OK, I’m going to come back and put the coat and tie on, and I want you to do the whole thing over again.’

“(The producer) asked me why. I said, ‘I just know if we do the whole thing over again, there’s going to be certain answers that are different that you reflect on.’ So after practice we went back for another three hours because there’s that feeling: ‘Is it good enough?'”

Payton definitely got emotional when he took a FaceTime call from Brees when he talked about their relationship, which normally isn’t his style. It reflects the closeness of their relationship, along with their success together. 

“He’s one of the only players, when he played, it almost looked like Madden,” Payton said of the popular NFL video game.

Payton also expressed pride in the way their relationship ended after 15 years together, as he noted that sometimes the parting between a coach and his quarterback can be acrimonious. That wasn’t the case, however, with Brees. 

“The 15 years, it’s just a long time and a lot of hours,” Payton said. “A lot of times, for a number of reasons, those quarterback-head coach relationships, you kind of always take for granted, yet a lot of times they don’t end like you’d want them to end. … I was really proud that it ended the way he wanted it to.”