Earlier this year, we did an article on Sean Payton’s interesting and outside-the-box method to motivate his players.
Payton has become known for some of his interesting tactics, and back in October the article revolved around putting mouse traps in players lockers as a reminder to “don’t eat the cheese,” or buy into all the good things that were being said about them early on in the year. For Payton and the Saints, that was his way of fighting off complacency.
Well, according to some reports yesterday, Payton was at it again recently as the Saints get ready to make a playoff run. This time, his approach involved a Super Bowl trophy and a pile of cash.
Picture this happening as the tweet below lays out the story.
From sources:
Yesterday, 4 armed guards entered the @saints locker room, with Coach @SeanPayton wheeling the Lombardi trophy on top of $225k in cash.
Coach then said: “Y’all want this???”
“Win 3 F’n games.”
The locker room erupted. $225k is each player’s SB bonus. #WHODAT
— Jon DeTrinis (@JonDeTrinis) January 9, 2019
Nola.com notes that’s what happened during a team meeting on Monday. Payton peeled back a gold curtain that was draped over a big glass case. Inside that case was the $225k in cash, along with the Lombardi Trophy.
A number of outlets have shared that Payton previously did something very similar back in 2009, when the bonus for players was $100k…and the Saints went on to win the Super Bowl.
The stunt clearly got the players excited, and got the wheels turning for a number of guys including defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, who was already fantasizing about how he wants that Super Bowl bonus to be delivered if they’re able to make a run.
Gotta hand it to Sean Payton for knowing how to get a room’s attention: displaying $225,000 in cash aka the bonus if the Saints win the Super Bowl. @RankinsSheldon: “I need it in 20s in a duffel bag.” 😂 pic.twitter.com/5gT15fJS0f (Ht @FletcherWDSU)
— Michele Steele (@ESPNMichele) January 9, 2019
As the 1-seed, the Saints enjoyed a bye weekend this past weekend and will host the Eagles on Sunday afternoon in their quest to win three games and that nice little Super Bowl bonus.
Update >> Ian Rapoport has shared exactly what the players saw, and OH BOY that’s a lot of money…
You heard the story from @JonDeTrinis of #Saints coach Sean Payton coming into his locker room with armed guards, cash and a Super Bowl trophy as motivation? For the first time, here is what it looked like: pic.twitter.com/DVij0t77z9
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 13, 2019
