Sean Payton has repeatedly stressed the need for the New Orleans Saints to re-establish their winning culture in the wake of last year’s 7-9 collapse -- lamenting often that they became "that team" that sabotaged itself both on and off the field.
Payton expanded on the topic this week in an interview with The Times-Picayune's Jeff Duncan.
"It wasn't one specific thing," Payton said of an organization that had taken an incremental step back at almost every level. "It was series of and a sum total of things. It happens with players and coaches and personnel. At some point, they're retired and haven't announced it yet. It's human nature."
Two interesting nuggets were revealed in Duncan’s article:
Former Saints defensive lineman Brandon Deaderick (now with the Houston Texans) was involved in an "ugly mid-season locker room fight with teammates,” according to Duncan’s article. That detail had not been revealed before among the other character and maturity issues that plagued the team last season.
Payton had a six-hour visit with his mentor, Bill Parcells, after the 2014 season. The two of them talk often, but Duncan described this lengthy meeting as a "reinforcement of the principles Parcells instilled in Payton during their three-year tenure together in Dallas."
