Saints head coach Sean Payton remains friends with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, eight years after he departed Dallas for New Orleans after three seasons with the team as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach, and he doesn’t buy into the idea of Jones as the always meddlesome owner.
"It was never a distraction," Payton said of Jerry, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I would say I have a close relationship with Mr. Jones. He was extremely supportive. He and Bill [Parcells] really worked well together. I think one of the great traits he has is I don’t know if there is anyone in this league that wants to win as much as he does. That competitive fire, whether you are up in the suite or in the stands like Mr. [Mark] Cuban, down on the sidelines, shoot they are the owners, they can be anywhere in the stadium they want to be.”
The argument can be (and has been) made that Payton left for greener pastures. After all, he has a Super Bowl ring, now. But Payton looks back on his time in Dallas very fondly.
“I think there is a personality with Jerry that is very contagious,” Payton said. “My experience in the three years there was outstanding. It was a great work environment and very supportive. I think as a coach or player the only time you would pay attention to that was in a big win maybe at the very end, but no absolutely not.”
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