Peyton Manning’s former teams like to seek his counsel on big football decisions, so it is no surprise he had a bit of advance notice of the Denver Broncos’ pursuit and hire of Sean Payton as head coach.
Manning spoke to the media Friday at the Manning Academy’s media day and admitted that he was well aware that Payton was going to land with the Broncos before the hire was announced. The former quarterback added he had been “all in” on the coach when the Broncos sought his opinion.
“The Walton family and George Paton (Denver general manager) and I have a good relationship,” Manning said, via Glenn Guilbeau of OutKick. “So, yeah, I certainly was all in on Sean.”
“I could tell he wanted to get back in it. I could tell he was looking for a committed organization and ownership that gave him the great support that he got here in New Orleans from the Benson family. I think he definitely found that with the Broncos’ new ownership. They’re going to give him what he needs and what he wants. The thing about Sean is that he knows exactly what he wants and needs.”
Reports at the time of Payton’s hiring suggested he was not necessarily Denver’s first choice. Perhaps that was never true in the mind of Manning, and his endorsement probably did not hurt Payton’s candidacy at all.
