Sean Payton shared a lot of insight during his 90-minute final press conference as New Orleans Saints head coach, bringing up many anecdotes about his time in black and gold after announcing that he’s stepping down from the job.
And he also took a moment to speak on the upcoming AFC championship game (between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals) as well as the NFC championship game (featuring the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49eres), particularly which teams he’ll be pulling for.
“I’m rooting kind of for Cincinnati a little bit in the postseason, but the Who Dey thing that came after,” Payton said, taking a stand in the decades-long Who Dey versus Who Dat debate. Good on him.
As to why he’s thrown his support behind the Bengals — Payton pointed to how many of his former players are now wearing orange and black stripes.
“I think it’s the hardest thing for a player sometimes (is) when, when they end up on a different roster. Man, we’re pulling for you. I’m pulling for Vonn Bell and Trey (Hendrickson),” Payton paused, then grinned and added, “Eli (Apple) a little bit.”
Apple put himself in hot water lately through a bizarre Twitter tirade slandering Saints fans and the city of New Orleans, taking aim at any and everything — including the food. It’s led to a rocky week for him online as Saints fans responded in kind, ribbing on him around the clock and creating diss track rap songs, which they then played over a “highlight” video of his worst plays in New Orleans (be advised of coarse language involved). Payton must have seen the tweets.
Either way, the now-former Saints coach is rooting for a Bengals win over the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend. As for the NFC title game?
“Our record was 9-8, and we didn’t get in the playoffs,” Payton reflected; a Los Angeles Rams collapse to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 18 eliminated the Saints from playoff contention, making this choice easy for him in the rematch: “We’re rooting against the Rams right now because of that.”
So there you go. If you haven’t decided your rooting interests in the AFC and NFC championship games, follow Payton’s logic and pull for Cincinnati over Kansas City and San Francisco against Los Angeles.
