Sean Payton’s long history of ethical issues and negligence deserves acknowledgment

Sean Payton went after a Denver media member on Twitter this week. In doing so, he broke his vow to get the Broncos organization off of social media and be more anonymous, a promise he made little more than two weeks before in the introductory press conference.

Payton’s post and swift change from a benchmark he touted, is just the latest example of the longtime NFL coach not living up to the standard he expects of others.

Like most coaches upon being hired, he spent 45 minutes in front of the cameras and another half hour with reporters preaching accountability and a culture shift at Dove Valley. But diving into Payton’s past reveals that the rigid discipline he demands out of his players he sometimes lacks in himself.

Payton first entered the National Football League as a scab during the 1987 Players Association strike. He crossed the picket line to play quarterback for Chicago as a member of a group of replacement players known as the “Spare Bears.” Payton’s NFL playing career lasted three poorly played games before the strike ended unsuccessfully for the players thanks to Payton and his peers who crossed the picket lines. The changes the NFLPA sought, such as free agency, were eventually forced by a jury after a years-long antitrust lawsuit. In the end, the agreement the sides made years later was ratified five times and evolved the sport into the one we know today.

While Payton slowed that progress, he said in 2010 that he had no regrets about his decision to cash in against the union’s efforts, helping owners and advancing his own career.

“It was easy to do,” Payton explained. “(Replacement players) were all out of college. There was no decision about whether to play.”

Like Payton’s tweet in late February of 2023, his actions in the fall of 1987 are an example of arbitrarily deciding what ethical standards he needs to follow. His comments about those actions came while he was leading the Saints to a Super Bowl victory, purveying over and profiting off of one of the NFL’s ugliest moments — Bountygate.

Payton would try to fight the year-long suspension he received for attempting to cover up a scandal wherein members of his New Orleans team were accused of paying out bonuses from a slush fund for injuring players on opposing teams. The pool was masterminded by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and lasted from 2009-11, encompassing Payton’s lone Super Bowl win.

Originally, Payton took full responsibility for the scandal. But after saying that, he tried to escape the punishment for his actions: the definition of evading accountability. According to ESPN at the time, Payton was found, “Just as guilty as anyone else” by league officials.

The investigation into the incident showed Payton telling others to “make sure our ducks are in a row.” During the investigation, Payton also admitted to reading an email that detailed a $5,000 bounty on a player after originally denying receiving such a message.

Payton and club executive Mickey Loomis’ misfeasance in setting up the scheme was concluded conduct detrimental to the NFL.

“We are all accountable and responsible for player health and safety and the integrity of the game,” Roger Goodell said in a news release at the time of announcing the Saints punishments. The league’s commissioner placed accountability for the culture which allowed scandal on Payton. “We will not tolerate conduct or a culture that undermines those priorities. No one is above the game or the rules that govern it. Respect for the game and the people who participate in it will not be compromised.”

While slush funding and Super Bowling, Payton was accused  by the Saints’ former security director of trying to cover up the theft of prescription pain pills from the club’s drug locker in a 2010 lawsuit. Payton was accused of stealing 130 or 129 Vicodin pills. In a statement released by the Saints, Payton said at the time that he had never abused or stolen the drug. That security member, Geoff Santini, claimed he was forced to quit his job.

It wouldn’t be the last time Payton allegedly retaliated against somebody who was trying to act in good faith. In 2017, Payton took to Twitter to call the NFL’s hiring of Mike Cerullo, the whistleblower in the Bountygate scandal, “unbelievable.” That post is still up.

According to Broncos CEO and owner Greg Penner, Payton is tied as the second-most powerful person in the Broncos organization with general manager George Paton. Payton will report directly to Penner. That’s not much oversight for someone who was penalized a year by the NFL for allowing a scandal under his watch.

The 59-year-old signed a five-year deal earlier this month, making him the second-richest coach in the league. He is tasked with fixing struggling veteran quarterback Russell Wilson and turning around the Broncos under new ownership — the Walton Penner Family Ownership Group. While Payton’s on-field success with the Saints has been the selling point to Broncos Country, little has been mentioned of the coach’s past and some already alarming signs that the buck stops with Sean, but he considers himself above paying the bill.

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