Nathaniel Hackett finally responds to Sean Payton‘s comments: ‘There’s a code’
New Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has been the bully of the offseason so far in the NFL. He’s been torching coaches and teams left and right, including new Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who was the head coach of Denver at the start of 2022.
“It might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL,” Payton told Bell. “That’s how bad it was.
“Everything I heard about last season, we’re doing the opposite.”
With that being said, Hackett has emerged from the shadows to clap back at Payton for his comments.
“There’s a code,” Hackett said, according to The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt (behind paywall). “There’s a way things are done. … It’s unfortunate about the comments that were made, but they did.”
Shortly after making those initial comments, Payton would take everything he said back. Is he scared? Who knows? One thing we know now is if the Broncos don’t beat the Jets this year and if they have a worse record than them, Payton is toast.
“I had one of my moments where I had my Fox hat on, and not my coaching hat,” Payton, who worked as a Fox Sports analyst in 2022, said, via Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. “It was a mistake by me. I said what I said, but I needed to have some restraint.”
Even Aaron Rodgers, Hackett’s longtime QB for the Packers and now New York, backed up his coach.
“Those comments were very surprising — for a coach to do that to another coach,” Rodgers said, as seen on “Back Together Weekend.”
“My love for Hackett goes deep, you know? We had some great years together in Green Bay, kept in touch, love him and his family. He’s an incredible family man, an incredible dad. On the field, he’s arguably my favorite coach I’ve ever had in the NFL. His approach to it, how he makes it fun, how he cares about the guys — just how he goes about his business with respect, with leadership, with honesty, with integrity.
“It made me feel bad that someone who’s accomplished a lot in the league is that insecure that they have to take another man down to set themselves up for some sort of easy fall if it doesn’t go well for that team this year. I thought it was way out of line and inappropriate. I think he needs to keep my coaches’ names out of his mouth.”
Who is right in this situation: Hackett or Payton? Let us know in the comments down below.
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