Sports Radio Interviews

Sean Payton Holds Nothing Back in His New Book

When Sean Payton was an assistant coach prior to getting to New Orleans, he was always considered one of the best offensive minds in the NFL and had teams lining up for his services.  However, despite the Saints coming off a 3-13 record the year before and dealing with the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Sean Payton made the decision to take the Saints job at a time that very few people wanted to go there.  It looks like he made the right choice.  He has been the NFL’s Coach of the Year, the Saints are coming off a Super Bowl Championship, and not only has he revived the Saints, but he has helped the revival of an entire city.

Now Payton has a new book out called “Home Team” where he talks about everything including the Saints Super Bowl victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Sean Payton joined WWL in New Orleans to talk about his new book, how much it means to him to get a ring after losing the Super Bowl when he was in New York, and what it means to him to get a ring for the city of New Orleans.

On how satisfied he is with the book now that it is done:

“It was exciting.  I think as a coach, you really don’t appreciate the work that goes into a project like that and I certainly have never done anything like this.  When the season ended, it made a lot of sense.  I felt like since coming here in 2006 it was a series of stories that I would be able to tell and I wanted it to be uniquely different.  I wanted it to be something that really revolved around our fan base, our people, and what it means to be the home team here.  I think the relationship, the bond we have with our city is so different than any other sports team.  It’s not until you live it, breathe it, and really be a part of it that you begin to get an appreciation for it.  A lot of time and energy went into this and it gave me a chance to really go back through the beginning in 2006 to where we are at today.  I wanted to make sure that anyone that finished reading it felt like they spent five hours with me at the airport at a bar, just talking and there’s so much that goes into what we do and yet it all gets back to that bond with our fan base and being the home team.”

On the feeling in the city now with a Super Bowl:

“There’s no question there’s a spirit that is hard to describe.  We’ve lived all over the country.  We’ve spent time in New York, Philadelphia, and Dallas, but I think Jimmy Buffet said it best…this is the soul of our country.  We’ve had four great years here and a lot of that gets back to the people.  It’s not the material things, it’s the spirit of the people.  Having been in New York for 9/11 and then coming here shortly after Katrina, we’ve seen what the human spirit can deal with and how they can deal with it.  This region is so strong that way.  That’s the uniqueness of it and that’s what makes it special.”

On how he felt when he lost a Super Bowl in New York and how he feels now that he won one:

“I think they’re that far on the other end of the pendulum.  It’s that devastating, it’s that difficult, it’s that disappointing to lose that game and to turn around and flip it and talk about the comparisons in winning it, it’s better than you can ever envision.  It makes you appreciate how difficult it is and appreciate the journey it took to get there and certainly it drives you to do it again.”

On what is the most gratifying part of winning a Super Bowl in New Orleans:

“For so many people and I can think of Dan Simmons who’s been with the club for 30-plus years, Joe Vitt who’s been in the NFL for 31 years as a coach, Mr. Benson and his wife Gail, there’s so many people that have done this for such a long time.  People in our building that have gone through so much have relocated to San Antonio, have made their way back and now they’re gonna have this opportunity to really put a symbol of excellence on their hand and things like this don’t come around too often.”

Listen to Sean Payton on WWL in New Orleans here

Tags: Home Team, New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Saints Super Bowl Champions, NFL, Sean Payton, WWL