ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Sean Payton is big on practice and practicing hard but he bowed to the family and friends holiday that is Thanksgiving.
His Broncos held a walkthrough Thursday morning and were dismissed around noon. Before Payton broke away and gave thanks, he met with 9NEWS for the Broncos Huddle (airing 6:30 p.m. Friday) to discuss his childhood Turkey Bowl, the mental toughness of his rookie class, and how success has altered his schedule.
Coach, when you grew up in Naperville, Illinois, were there Turkey Bowls? Give me your favorite Thanksgiving weekend memory.
Payton: “I think we had something like that. I think there was this background football game. Gosh, you brought back flashbacks. We were probably eighth graders, ninth graders. Generally, it was cold. Yeah, I can’t recall the day but I think we had a game like that.”
This has proven to be a mentally tough team with a tough-minded rookie class. Bo, Vele are mentally tough, Jonah Elliss. And you’re younger 21-year-olds, Estime, Franklin, it hasn’t always gone well for them but they show up every day and put in the work to get better. How do you scout, evaluate mental toughness?
Payton: “It’s a great question. And, man, it’s so important to dive into the individual and the makeup. We like to talk about culture – that word is used a lot. And it starts with the ingredients. If you’re bringing in the right type of people you have a much greater chance of creating that environment you want. And so there’s a lot that goes into that.”
As you head down the stretch, your success has caused some schedule adjustments. They didn’t flex you out of Monday night. They did flex you into Thursday night. There might be a Saturday game in there. Is that a challenge?
Payton: “No, I don’t think so. I said to the team, ‘Let’s get worried if we’re getting flexed out of games not into them.’ Our first year in New Orleans (in 2006) I think we had one Monday night game. And then shortly thereafter we were getting five or six (primetime games) a season. You guys here have been a part of that (especially in the Peyton Manning days) and it’s just a sign of progress. So playing a Thursday night game again -- I know it’s on the road but that game (at the Chargers) was on the road to begin with -- yeah, I think that’s a positive thing for the program.
