A longtime Payton friend explains why Sean Payton loved it when Bo Nix yelled at him

NEW ORLEANS — When Bo Nix barked back at Sean Payton in the second half of the Broncos’ Week 5 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, eyebrows arched.

But the coach loved it. And Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, who has known Payton for a quarter-century, knows that such a response is a way to the coach’s heart.

“You have to do it. You gotta do it with Sean,” Glazer said Thursday. “He will run you over if you don’t. And he respects you.”

At the time, Payton described the exchange as a product of the passion Nix possesses.

“We’re looking for passion, and we’re looking for people that have passion for the game, not other things,” Payton said on Oct. 7. “And I think that it’s so important to him. And so, yeah, again, I loved his response. And we’re on to the next play, and it’s nothing.”

And those who know Payton best understand why the moment resonated so much.

“What I love, too, is Bo doesn’t take his crap, and that’s what you need,” Glazer said. “Because Sean will wear you out.

“Sean will fire his coaches nine times during a game, and then afterwards, it’s like, ‘Oh, did I really do that? Oh, no, I didn’t do that. I didn’t mean it.”

Sean Payton, on why he “loved” the response of Bo Nix during a heated sideline exchange Sunday: “It’s competitive, he’s fiery, & … look, we’re in the business of passion. We’re looking for passion, and we’re looking for people that have passion for the game, not other things.… pic.twitter.com/bgN1mJcIzI

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 7, 2024

How close is Glazer with Payton? Close enough to have this sort of exchange while keeping their friendship intact.

“Sean and I have gone at it quite a few times, right? There’s been a couple,” Glazer said.

“I think I threatened to murder him last year. I did. It was about 6:00 in the morning. He called me up, he raised his voice at me [with] my wife Rosie, sitting next to me.

“I said to him, ‘[Expletive deleted] did you just say? I will [expletive deleted] murder you and leave you in the street!’ And my wife is like, ‘OK, OK, OK! Sean. He’ll call you back.”

 

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“And it’s just like — but you have to do that with him, right? Otherwise, he’ll just — he’ll run you over.”

Consider that compared with the moment in the Broncos’ 42-17 loss to the Detroit Lions on Dec. 16, 2023. That night, Sean Payton tore into Russell Wilson after a failed goal-to-go sequence. Wilson stood there and didn’t respond.

The contrast between Nix and Wilson and their fit with Payton couldn’t be more clearer than how they handled their head coach’s harangue. It’s yet another layer to the tale of why Nix is a perfect fit … and Wilson wasn’t.

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