In news that is sure to cause somewhat of a stir in New Orleans, Saints head coach Sean Payton spent the holiday weekend, or at least part of it, playing host to a few of his chums from Dallas, including Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo, tight end Jason Witten and former linebacker Bobby Carpenter (now with the Lions) in a 7-on-7 beach football game. Cowboy-turned-Fox analyst Troy Aikman was there, too.
The game was held on Saturday near the WaterColor, Florida vacation home of the Saints coach. In a much-publicized move last March, Payton up and bought a house in the DFW area, igniting a string of rumors suggesting that Payton could be headed for a front office job with Dallas.
But for all we can tell, what happened on Saturday was nothing more than a pick-up game between friends.
“It got so competitive to where the whole beach was watching,’’ Payton said, per SportsNOLA.com on Saturday. “A highlight for me was my son Connor caught a touchdown pass from Romo. No, he didn’t spike it; he knows better.’’
Of course, there’s also the issue of the lockout. Some have wondered if this game represents a violation of the rules prohibiting contact between players and coaches, but it seems doubtful that the league will punish any of the game’s participants for maybe crossing (maybe) what has been a very blurry line.
“I played a little safety, a little wide receiver and Romo was struggling at quarterback so I went in and threw him a touchdown pass,’’ Payton said. “Aikman led his team on a 2-minute drive that ended up tying the game. After about a half an hour, the adults were ready to quit and the kids were screaming for more. But it was fun.’’
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