New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton knows it can be a challenge to keep players focused and away from social media before games, so he devised a plan to give them no choice but to put their phones away.
Payton told CBS Radio’s Tiki and Tierney that he’s having a device installed in the Saints locker room that will block players from getting on social media before games.
“It’s just a simple scrambler that just avoids the social media aspect. That will be in our locker room,” Payton said, via Nick Underhill of the New Orleans Advocate. “It’s not a violation of your freedom of nothing. But it’s the ability to two hours prior to kickoff, because I want them listening to music, but you can simply hit this little button.”
Payton didn’t go into detail as to how the device would work, but made clear it was an idea limited to his team.
“It’s going to be a Sean Payton thing,” Payton said when asked if it was a team or league initiative.
The discussion was spurred by Antonio Brown’s Facebook Live fiasco, which Payton admitted would have left him furious had it been a player on his team.
“It’s a lot easier to handle if it’s a third-string tight end,” Payton said when asked about Brown’s actions. “It’s much more difficult to handle when it’s one of your top players. But that being said, I would have been pissed. Look, corporate America is dealing with the same issue. In the work world, employees at their desk, how much time are they spending on social media. Close to 35, 40 percent of the time.”
Brown’s own coach was extremely angry over it, too. Maybe Mike Tomlin should call Payton and ask where he can get one of those scramblers.
