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On Wednesday, Sean Payton, the coach of the Broncos, pulled out another big-opportunity playbook page, one that was as ugly as it was baseless. Russell Wilson now serves Payton better as a scapegoat than a quarterback, so he took the ball away from him.
Payton stated, “I hope it gives us a spark.”
He maintained that benching Wilson in favor of Jarrett Stidham was a football decision that was solely focused on winning for a team that was just two weeks away from packing up camp and taking a vacation to Cancun.
Payton might think he can constantly con all of us knuckleheads.
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Beyond the fact that Wilson has won 115 games during his NFL career and Stidham is a 27-year-old journeyman who has never won a regular-season game, my lack of confidence in Payton extends much beyond that.
This move is reprehensible financially because, according to the terms of his $245 million contract extension, Denver would bear a heavy financial burden should Wilson suffer a serious injury prior to the contentious divorce proceedings with the team starting in the offseason. Even worse, it seems like Payton is exacting revenge on us all for blowing a crucial game against New England by requesting two foolish timeouts in the final quarter and then trying to pass the blame on to Wilson.
I’ve followed the Broncos for 40 years, from Greeley to London, from the Super Bowl to the bottom of the AFC West, and throughout that time, I’ve never heard a coach spew as much self-aggrandizing nonsense as Payton does.
Standing in the wings with general manager George Paton—who made the mistake of trading for Wilson by approving a huge extension before the player even completed a touchdown pass in Denver—Payton addressed the TV cameras and sent a message to the locker room: If Wilson isn’t safe, nobody is.
“The entire offensive line cannot be replaced by me. “I am unable to add five new receivers to the team,” said Payton, whose offensive wizardry has led Denver to 16th place in the league in scoring with 21.8 points per contest. “A different guy will be here speaking to you if it goes on for a while.”
These are the remarks of a coach who took over for Wilson and has since behaved as though designing an offense around a nonconformist quarterback was a chore rather than an opportunity.
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The players are ignorant fools who deserve what’s coming to them if they aren’t starting to wonder who Payton will throw under the bus next.
The Denver locker room was as upbeat as your neighborhood morgue after learning that Stidham would be tasked with defeating the Chargers and Raiders to preserve their snowball’s chance in Hades of making the playoffs.
The Broncos are a walking-dead team.
This Sunday night, when Payton’s team was completely unprepared to play a bad New England team and Bill Belichick was the Grinch that stole Christmas, made Denver’s stadium feel more depressing than it had in almost a decade, since Joe Flacco and the Ravens stole the Super Bowl dream from the hearts of fans during a playoff game.
After the Patriots defeated the Broncos 26–23, Wilson declared, “I came here to win and win a championship for us,” in what now seems to be the melancholy coda to the end of his Colorado career.
Without question, Wilson’s abilities have diminished over time as a result of the physical damage caused by the 527 sacks he has received. I’m not sure if he fully realized the extremely high expectations placed on quarterbacks in Broncos Country due to the influence of Peyton Manning and John Elway. His 11-19 record in two seasons as a starter has to be considered a bust by any standard.
But let’s not forget that Wilson has nine Pro Bowl invitations, three touchdown passes, and a Super Bowl championship to his name. He is an accomplished Black man and captain of the Broncos who has been treated far too frequently like a 10-year-old child by a grumpy, elderly, white coach. He has dressed him down in Detroit for the attention of the NFL world and is now forced to stand on the sidelines as a reprimanded backup quarterback in his home stadium.
In professional sports, money talks louder than anything else, and by benching Wilson, the Broncos shield themselves from having to pay Wilson an additional $37 million should he get hurt and be unable to pass a physical in March.
“I get the economics here,” complained Payton, getting annoyed that the Broncos’ football team might be any of our damn business.
If Wilson restructured his contract in a way that made trading him more than remotely possible, it could go a long way toward making life after him enjoyable on the football field. Who could blame Wilson, though, if he told the Broncos to put that proposal away given how Payton has treated him and his actions?
Naturally domineering, Payton has used intimidation and bloviation to carve out a small football kingdom in Denver. With a self-assured demeanor that answers to no one, he has taken advantage of the inexperienced new franchise ownership.
