Sean Payton had a limited response after ‘Mr. Unlimited’ unloaded on social media.
One day after Russell Wilson, Payton’s quarterback once upon a time, evidently called his former boss ‘classless’ on X, the Denver Broncos head coach weighed in. Previously, Payton intimated that he’d hoped to avoid facing New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, who recently replaced Wilson as that team’s starter.
“Look, the euphoria, the way that game unfolded, that was strictly about Dart,’ Payton said Wednsday, three days after Denver needed a record-setting fourth quarter to defeat the Giants, 33-32.
‘That was in no way shape or form anything that was directed at Russ. I might be able to see how he might have perceived that. But coming off that win and watching how (Dart) played, that wasn’t any intention at all.”
Dart passed for 283 yards and three touchdowns Sunday and ran for another score against Denver’s strong defense as the Giants built a 19-0 lead after three quarters. They led 26-8 with roughly five minutes to go before the Broncos stormed back, becoming the first team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to overcome a deficit of at least 18 points with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before prevailing in regulation.
Payton, the Giants’ offensive coordinator when they reached Super Bowl 35 following the 2000 season, expressed his admiration for the franchise and Dart immediately following the game.
‘I have a ton of respect for that organization. I spent four of my early years there coordinating. Super Bowl. First game in this stadium before 9/11. Close with the Mara and Tisch family,’ he said.
‘They found a little spark with that quarterback (Dart). I was talking to (Giants owner) John Mara not too long ago and I said, ‘We were hoping that change would’ve happened long after our game.’”
Wilson − and many others − interpreted that as a slight directed at him.
‘Classless… but not surprised,’ Wilson wrote in an uncharacteristically acerbic tone on his official X account. ‘Didn’t realize you’re still bounty hunting 15+ years later through the media.’
The latter part of the tweet was a shot at Payton and the ‘Bountygate’ episode with the New Orleans Saints, whom he coached from 2006 to ’21, minus the 2012 campaign − when Payton was suspended by the league in the aftermath of the scandal.
Wilson played two seasons for the Broncos, including 2023, Payton’s first in the Mile High City. They had a tense relationship throughout what was effectively an arranged marriage, Wilson benched at the end of that season. He was cut shortly thereafter, a move that forced Denver to eat a record $85 million dead cap charge.
Bo Nix was drafted last year to replace Wilson and led the Broncos to the playoffs, something Wilson didn’t manage to do during the two seasons after he was obtained from the Seattle Seahawks in a costly 2022 trade.
