In the NFL, not even the head coaches are immune from the long arm of the law when it comes to fines and punishment.
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton knows this better than anyone else, so if and when a fine comes down from the NFL for his actions late in a wild, 33-32 win over the New York Giants, he probably won’t be surprised.
Leading the Giants 30-26 with 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Payton went all the way onto the field to argue a pass interference call on Broncos cornerback Riley Moss, eventually venturing out to the Broncos’ 2-yard line to talk face to face with a referee.
Payton was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, setting up the Giants for a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jaxson Dart with 37 seconds left before the Broncos got the ball back and drove for the game winning field goal as time expired.
“Payton is probably going to be staring down an NFL fine for that one,” former NFL head coach and ESPN analyst Rex Ryan said on “Get Up” on October 20.
“That was silly,” Payton said about the penalty after the game. ” … I just wanted them to hear me. You can’t do that.”
The Broncos win over the Giants was their fourth consecutive victory and improved their record to 5-2 headed into a Week 8 home game against the Dallas Cowboys.
“The pass interference call was bad enough, but Sean Payton can’t get an additional penalty there for unsportsmanlike conduct,” Denver 104.3 The Fan’s Richie Carni wrote on X. “Something he/we would rip into a player for in a critical situation.”
Payton Received One of NFL’s Longest Suspensions
If Payton is fined, it will be a pittance compared to the worst punishment he’s faced from the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell in the past — part of the sprawling “Bountygate” scandal from when Payton was head coach of the New Orleans Saints.
Goodell handed out some of the harshest penalties in league history after discovering the Saints operated a slush fund that paid defensive players “bounties’ for injuring opposing players.
In response, Goodell suspended Payton and linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the entire 2012 season and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams indefinitely. While Vilma had his suspension overturned on appeal, Payton served his yearlong suspension.
There was a movie made about Payton’s year away from the NFL in which comedian Kevin James played the coach — Home Team” co-starring Taylor Lautner and Rob Schneider was released on Netflix in 2022.
Payton returned to the Saints and was the head coach for 9 more seasons.
Broncos LB Suspended After Win Over Giants
The win over the Giants has already proven costly in terms of punishment, with veteran linebacker Dre Greenlaw suspended one game for his actions toward a referee after the game.
Following the game winning field goal, video from the field level shows referee Brad Allen shove Broncos linebacker Justin Strnad in front of Greenlaw, who begins to follow Allen, yelling at him before Allen turns and throws a postgame flag on Greenlaw.
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