Bennie Fowler spent three years with the Denver Broncos to start his career from 2015-2017 and became a Super Bowl champion in his rookie season. After that, he spent two years with the New York Giants before spending one season with Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints in 2020.
Fowler was a depth receiver piece throughout his career, as he caught 97 passes for 1,101 yards and six touchdowns. However, by playing with players like Peyton Manning and coaches like Payton, Fowler learned a lot about what makes the greats who they are. Recently, he appeared on Broncos and Bourbon to talk about his time with Payton and other aspects of his career.
“Sean [Payton]’s an old-school coach, number one,” Fowler said. “He’s very old-school in terms of the way they practice, the way they install, the way they watch film … Sean has a vision, and he has a vision for each player and how they fit on the roster and how he wants the roster constructed, especially on offense.”
Payton has been coaching since 1988 when he started as an assistant at San Diego State. He spent nine years coaching college football before jumping to the NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles in 1997. He spent nine years bouncing around the NFL as an assistant before landing his first head coaching gig in New Orleans in 2006. Since then, he’s won a Super Bowl and established himself as one of the best offensive minds in the game. Fowler knows that his many years of coaching back in the day reflect in his current style.
“[He’s] definitely a hard-a** for sure, definitely a teacher of the fundamentals of the game … He will stop after a period or after a play and he will break down why that play is important for the offense and the defense,” Fowler said. “He will bring back a story in terms of how this might’ve happened in New Orleans or when he was in Dallas or just other scenarios so he can start to paint that picture for a player to understand why this play is so important.”
In New Orleans, Fowler only appeared in five games and had just two catches for 11 yards, but still was able to digest so much about the 2009 Super Bowl champion that makes him great.
“He’s just a great teacher of the game,” Fowler said.
Another important trait of Payton’s that Fowler brought up was his leadership. For anybody who watched the Broncos over the course of the 2024 season, it was clear to see how Payton’s leadership affected rookie quarterback Bo Nix. After a tough two games to start the season, he continued to grow week by week under the leadership of Payton.
Payton’s leadership was also evident back in the day when Drew Brees wound up in New Orleans after starting his career with the San Diego Chargers. He was a solid quarterback at first, but under Payton’s leadership in the Big Easy, he blossomed into one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game.
“If you’re in the building with Sean, you know exactly where the Broncos are going on the business side of things and on the football side of things,” Fowler said. “And all those coaches know exactly what the standard is. He’s not going to lower his standard for anybody because he holds himself to that standard, and I know he wants another Super Bowl.”
When the Broncos traded for Sean Payton after the 2022 season, it was clear that the front office wanted to go out and get a leader with a good pedigree. He’s made the team better every year in Denver so far, and he has all the tools to make the team’s deepest playoff run since Super Bowl 50 in 2025.