Last week, Peter King of SI shared a humorous story about Saints coach Sean Payton lifting the metaphorical middle finger towards Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Jones had called ahead and reserved a special bottle of wine for an upcoming dinner at St. Elmo steakhouse in Indianapolis — home of the combine. Unfortunately for Jones, several Saints staffers were dining at St. Elmo the prior night and requested the same bottle of wine. The New Orleans group downed the wine and Payton left the following note for Jerruh:
WHO DAT!
World Champions XLIV
Sean Payton
The story got a ton of publicity around NFL circles and even made its way to the Manny Pacquiao camp. How do we know? Because Pacquiao arrived in Texas this week to prepare for his Saturday fight at Cowboys Stadium against Joshua Clottey and brought a special present. Todd Archer of The Dallas Morning News shared with us that Pacquiao presented Jerry Jones with an autographed bottle of Caymus Special Selection wine prior to his workout Tuesday — the exact same bottle the Saints drank in Indy. Clearly Pacquiao’s doing what he can to get on Jerruh’s good side. After the gate numbers are in Saturday, I’m guessing it’s Jerruh who will be lavishing Pacman with gifts.
Sources:
Manny Pacquiao gives Jerry Jones a special present [The Dallas Morning News]
Notes from combine: New rivalry, OT changes and how to help troops [Sports Illustrated]
