Never seen this before 😂 pic.twitter.com/fV67hiIK9Z
— Boot Krewe Media (@BootKreweMedia) October 11, 2024
This one took New Orleans Saints fans by surprise. During this week’s “Thursday Night Football” game between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, Amazon Prime Video previewed the streaming platform’s next game with a unique graphic to promote the between the Saints and Denver Broncos. Nothing too unusual about that.
But viewers on social media were taken aback when the graphic featured Sean Payton and Cameron Jordan. Both were interesting choices. Payton’s inclusion was particularly eyebrow raising because coaches aren’t the typical choice. You’d expect it to be a couple of star players up there, but instead it was the Saints’ team captain and their ex-head coach.
It may be rare, but this happened as recent as last year. The Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots faced off on “Thursday Night Football” in Week 14. The promotional graphic for that game featured Bill Belichick and T.J. Watt.
That one made a little more sense. Belichick is arguably the greatest coach of all time, and the Patriots had little star talent fans would recognize at a glance. The Broncos have Patrick Surtain Jr. and rookie quarterback Bo Nix, but Payton was clearly their preferred choice.
Payton’s return to New Orleans certainly was the driving force behind the decision. Amazon is leaning into that narrative early, but we’ll hear even more about the Payton angle next week leading up to kickoff on Thursday, Oct. 17.
