When Sean Payton guided Saints to Super Bowl victory vs Peyton Manning-led Colts
Sean Payton is back in coaching, with the former New Orleans Saints head coach recently inking a lucrative five-year contract with the Denver Broncos.
He took last year off of coaching but will make his return this season after Denver acquired him via trade from the Saints.
After stepping down as the Saints' head coach following the 2021 season, Payton joined Fox and worked in the studio as a fill-in for the Fox NFL Sunday crew.
Prior to his hiatus, he was a successful coach for the Saints for 15 seasons.
The biggest accomplishment of his professional career came 13 years ago today. On February 7, 2010, the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts, led by Peyton Manning in Super Bowl XLIV by a score of 31-17.
This was the Saints' first and only Super Bowl appearance while it was the Colts' fourth appearance and second in four years. Both teams finished as the number one seeds in their respective conferences, with the Saints finishing the regular-season 13-3 and the Colts 14-2.
By halftime, the Colts led the Saints 10-6. This caused the Saints to go with a surprise onside kick to open the second half, during which they recovered. Running back Pierre Thomas scored a 15-yard touchdown reception on the drive to give them the lead before Indy's Joseph Addai scored on the ensuing drive, regaining the lead, 17-13.
New Orleans would score 18 unanswered points to finish the game, including a pick-six from Tracy Porter off of Peyton Manning, which sealed the game.
Sean Payton is looking to become first head coach in NFL history to win Super Bowl with 2 franchises
Sean Payton won a Super Bowl with the Saints and is aiming to do the same with the Broncos. No head coach in the history of the NFL has guided two franchises to Super Bowl wins.
The 59-year-old spoke to local Denver media as he was introduced and said that he's trying to become the first head coach in history to achieve the feat.
Via Miles Kils, he said:
"But I didn’t see like it that but I did see at some point working with another club. And look, no coach has ever won a Super Bowl with two different teams. Here we are 2023, it’s never happened. A few coaches have gone to Super Bowls with two teams. But no one has won a Super Bowl with two different teams. I like those kind of things.”
Denver traded their 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick in exchange for Payton, hoping that he can deliver them another Lombardi Trophy with Russell Wilson.