Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton could have had a very different career arc and still ended up in the AFC West, had it not been for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Payton was interviewed by ESPN’s Peter Schrager earlier this year, and told a wild, never-before-heard story of how he almost became the head coach of the Oakland Raiders.
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Payton was then on legendary coach Bill Parcells’ staff in Dallas when he was first told late Raiders owner Al Davis wanted to interview Payton for the head coaching position. Payton spent three days with Davis, and Davis stated his intention to hire Payton in the following days. It was nearly a done deal — Payton had gone to Jos. A Bank to get a black suit and a silver tie in preparation for what would have been his introductory press conference in Oakland.
As Payton was in Disney World with his family, then-Oakland Raiders senior personnel executive Michael Lombardi called and told Payton that Al Davis wanted to speed things up. Payton personally called Davis and told him he was with his family, and it would take until the end of the trip to close the process.
Parcells then called Payton and told him there would be other opportunities. Two minutes later, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called and had a driver pick up Payton to convince him to stay in Dallas. “If Jerry is the last guy you see, you’re probably staying,” said Payton.
Denver is sure glad Payton decided to come to the AFC West, and coach for the good guys, years later. The Broncos play the Raiders this week, a weird reminder of what could have been.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL: Jerry Jones stopped Sean Payton from becoming Raiders coach