The Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50 in Levi’s Stadium while Sean Payton watched from afar as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints.
Now, Payton is leading the Broncos, and Super Bowl LX is back at the site of where the Broncos tasted glory a decade ago.
On Thursday, Denver held a joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers on their practice fields, with Levi’s Stadium in the background.
Sure, it’s only August, but Sean Payton was asked about hoping to see his team back in Santa Clara in February, playing the big game.
“That’s the goal, you know it’s always the goal,” Payton said.
Payton made waves earlier this week when he told Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports that this Broncos team is the seventh he’s ever coached that he feels like has a chance to win it all.
Still, Payton is keeping the goals in focus, not set on hoisting Lombardi just yet. There’s a lot of work to be done.
“I think it starts really more in the division. It starts with playing in your division well, having a chance to compete to win your division, and then the next goal is seeding, and then the final goal would be trying to get to the championship game,” Payton said.
Of course, the Kansas City Chiefs play in the AFC West, and they’ve won the division nine times in a row. It’s good that’s where Payton’s focus is for now.
And if the Broncos are going to get over the hump, QB Bo Nix is going to need a big sophomore season. Payton was asked about his comments to ESPN’s Seth Wickersham about loving Nix with the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
“There was a lot that went into the evaluation and trying to remove the outside noise,” Payton said.
He mentioned looking at important statistics like third-down numbers, red zone numbers and sack totals. Those helped him zero in on Nix.
“It’s a hard position to evaluate, and I think we did a good job evaluating it. Now, it’s not easy, but time will tell,” Payton said.
Time will indeed tell on both Nix and the Super Bowl. But it’s good to see the local media following up on things Sean Payton told the national media.
After all, when he makes headlines, folks generally want some clarification. And he gave good and thoughtful answers on Thursday.