Sean Payton talks about ‘the one that got away’ on Pardon My Take

The New Orleans head coach was a special guest on the Pardon My Take sports podcast on May 8. On it, he talked about the ‘one that got away’.

The NFL offseason is long. And extremely slow. Unlike the MLB or even the NBA, the NFL offseason is longer than four months. In fact, teams who don’t make the playoffs have an eight-and-a-half-month break between seasons. That includes Saints head coach Sean Payton thought his downtime is less than for most people involved in the NFL.

Luckily, for the Saints, a playoff berth came upon them last season, so their off-time is a bit shorter than the maximum length. Still, it feels like years between NFL seasons, so a lot of content gets flown around. Fans of New Orleans and head coach Sean Payton were in for a treat to see Payton spending some of his offseason time chatting on the top sports podcast in the country, Pardon My Take.

For those of you that have never heard of the show, it is a branch-off of Barstool Sports. While Barstool has been controversial in the past, their theme across websites, podcasts and personas is to be unique and outside the box. It may have gone over the line in the past, but they are fully aware of how ridiculous and goofy they can be. 

For Pardon My Take, the show is quirky and the hosts don’t give a darn about anything they say. However, it’s still very professional and hilarious. They’re knowledgeable to a great extent about the sports they discuss, especially football. 

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The gist

The episode opens with the three hosts talking about eating fecal matter and hockey. It’s a lot funnier actually listening to the banter, and obviously very out of the box humor. They then bring on Payton, getting right to his thoughts on the supposed Adrian Peterson argument from last season’s opener. 

“No, neither of us were mad. He said something along the lines of ‘we gotta run it down their arse’ and I replied saying ‘I hear ya, I hear ya.’”

In between his answer were a few “sures” and “uh-huhs” by the other guys. The chemistry is great, and they ask Payton about his time away from the Saints in 2011. Payton was suspended that season due to the repercussions of “Bountygate.” A funny yet awkward back-and-forth turned into a heart-warming answer from Coach.

“Did you find a new love for coaching after sitting out for a year while getting paid?” PFT Commentator asked. 

“I wasn’t paid during my suspension, actually,” Payton replied.

“Oh. Well… did you find a new love for coaching after coaching for your son’s team during that break?”

Payton was very happy to talk about his children’s’ football teams, and how he was able to make more time for them during the suspension. It was a silver lining for Coach. 

The one that got away and the one that didn’t

With the draft still recent at the time, it was a hot topic during the interview. Reiterating what he revealed on The Dan Patrick Show earlier this year, Payton alludes back to the 2017 NFL Draft. “That Draft was great for us, and we almost didn’t even get Marshon (Lattimore). If the Chiefs hadn’t taken Patrick Mahomes the spot ahead of us… we would have gone with him.”

Which prompted the question from the hosts: “Who is the one guy that you didn’t draft, maybe came close to drafting even, and you regret?”

Payton had a very interesting answer. “Well, we didn’t draft this guy. But, we really enjoyed him as a later-round back coming into draft night and he fell all the way through (the draft). He went undrafted, and we had a verbal agreement in place with him after a phone call. We were so excited to have him come to camp. We really thought he would be special for us. Of course, verbal anything isn’t official, and he gave us a call a couple days later saying he was going with Houston. He went a different way, but it was what seemed best to him, and it ended up working out for him.”

He’s of course talking about Arian Foster, the All-Pro running back out of Tennessee who is the Houston Texans all-time leading rusher. Very interesting choice by Payton. So many players have been (unknowingly) passed up by the Saints’ front office, just like any other team. Foster being the one that comes to Payton’s mind says a lot about Foster’s potential at the time, and Payton’s likening of running backs.

Drew Brees

As for the best signing of his life, Payton seemed very happy to talk about Drew Brees. The quarterback almost signed with the Miami Dolphins back in 2006, which the hosts poke at a bit. Payton was happy to reminisce, even about the embarrassing moment of the meeting.

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“Back then, we didn’t have GPS or anything. So, I’m driving Drew and Brittany (Brees’ wife) around, having a good time. And, somehow, we get lost somewhere in Baton Rogue trying to find our way back to New Orleans.” The Saints landed Brees a few days after Brees met with Miami, and the rest is history.

Also discussed is Payton’s healthy relationship with Rob Ryan, and football movie ideas were pitched to Payton. This podcast will make any Saints’ fans offseason a lot better.