Saints head coach Sean Payton has tested positive for coronavirus (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). Payton is the first NFL figure, that we know of, to test positive for COVID-19. Unfortunately, given the rapid spread of the virus, he might not be the last.
The longtime coach did not feel well Sunday and took a coronavirus test Monday, Schefter reports. He did not receive the results until Thursday afternoon. Payton said he has no fever or cough, per Schefter, but is resting at home.
Payton says that he is going public with his diagnosis in order to stress the importance of taking proper precautions against the virus. He wants people to stay inside, behave responsibly, and follow government protocols as the world looks to keep a lid on the pandemic.
“This is not just about social distancing,” Payton told ESPN. “It’s shutting down here for a week to two weeks. If people understand the curve, and understand the bump, we can easily work together as a country to reduce it. Take a minute to understand what the experts are saying. It’s not complicated to do what they’re asking of us. Just that type of small investment by every one of us will have a dramatic impact.
“I was fortunate to be in the minority, without the serious side effects that some have. I’m lucky. Younger people feel like they can handle this, but they can be a carrier to someone who can’t handle it. So we all need to do our part. It’s important for every one of us to do our part.”
Payton, 56, is set to enter his 14th season as the Saints’ head coach. A Super Bowl-winning head coach, Payton ranks fifth among active NFL HCs with 131 wins and 27th all time. He has overseen eight of the Saints’ nine playoff victories.
As the NBA, NHL and college basketball halted their seasons — with March Madness being canceled — the NFL opted to proceed with free agency. The league went against several anonymous executives’ wishes on that front. The NFL has, however, nixed pre-draft visits and shut down team facilities. Free agents are not allowed to visit teams. Payton’s positive test may serve as an ominous sign for the league, which has also postponed OTAs.
As of midday Thursday, the United States has seen nearly 12,000 coronavirus cases. That number has multiplied steadily over the past several days. Those days have doubled as some of the strangest in the history of American sports.
Holy smokes
karma from bountygate?
fire bill o’brien
Just one of many. By this time next week half million Americans will have it
You’re right, except we won’t have done that many tests yet ha
How do you that many don’t already have it? It wouldn’t surprise me, considering how long people are being allowed to shop in cramped stores, in close proximity to others.
But just because you get it doesn’t mean it will kill you.
If being a Browns fan doesn’t kill you…you can probably survive anything.
thanks, Mr. Doom and Gloom
Ill be mr doom.
Shut up
Not sure why what Payton is lecturing everyone about. Somehow he managed to get sick. Somehow he managed to get tested. Many here including myself have been sheltered in place since last Wednesday. A test? Average person could only start getting a test was yesterday here.
I think he is lecturing the fact that people aren’t doing the right thing. Social distancing etc. The spring break issue in Florida is a absolute joke. The world has to be shaking their head at us right now.
Yeah, where’s the governor of Florida on this? Is he comatose? Shut the beaches down; the bars and restaurants aren’t enough.
Yeah not a very good look that this test seems to only be available to affluent people or people that are extremely sick…this is gonna drag on until things start to change in that department
It’s going to continue being that way until people start getting really pissed off about it.
everything is always 1% vs 99% for people, isnt it? nonsense narrative. they arent hoarding tests or some garbage, and the fact that some have come back positive shows the tests were warranted. there arent enough to go around. deal with it.
We weren’t prepared and now we are playing catch up for sure.
There aren’t enough to go around, but seemingly every affluent person gets a test instantly. When the entire Utah Jazz team got tested a little bit ago, they used up 50% of the state of Oklahoma’s testing resources.
You don’t have to complain about the 1% vs the 99%, this is reality. The rich and famous get whatever they want and people like you shrugging your shoulders or complaining when people bring it up are not only not helping, but contributing.
The whole Mick Mulvaney “deal with it” argument … To the masses: go scratch.
Or to a starving public:
Let them eat cake.
Physician here…
There ARE enough to go around, now. The problem was the testing platform they had up until last week was, let’s say, old school. They could only test a few hundred samples a day. The CDC has had this test platform for a couple decades.
The new platform, finished production last week, can test tens of thousands a day. You will see more testing done now, because it can. Before they could test more, they had to limit it to people showing symptoms or had been in contact with someone testing positive.
That’s why a few dozen NBA guys were tested. Four were positive, and they’d been in contact with the rest that were tested.
Thousands of Americans have been tested already, you’ve heard of what, 30-40 famous people tested?
Sorry, that ratio plays out.
Everyone needs to calm down, all a test does is make your symptoms official. If you felt sick, you should have been self-quarantining anyway. The one drawback was this allowed asymptomatic infections to go unchecked, and they risked infecting others, unknowingly.
But again, it was unavoidable. CDC couldn’t let probable candidates wait in line behind people ‘just wanting to make sure,’ with the slow testing.
Good news is, it’s the fastest platform on the globe right now… the mobile testing stations have already started opening… the hydroxychloroquine may be a game-changing antiviral treatment or ‘cure’ in the next day or so… and the human trials for a vaccine started this week, with that brave woman in Washington state.
I believe this is changing for the better… soon.
I understand if some don’t. But it was nobody’s fault. The CDC has had several directors the last 20 years. None of them changed this. None expected this, I guess.
Stay safe all, and at a distance.
voice of reason.
thank you sir.
who cares??? He’s got a cold, that’s all it basically is.
You are an idiot.
Tell that to the dead people. Comments like yours is why it’s spreading.
There are no words for the absurdity of this comment.
Questions about how he got one of the few tests out there aside, it’s good that Payton was explicit in his message.
There are a lot of people in this country who won’t listen to experts but will listen to football coaches.
Hopefully they will believe him.
I only listen to the National Enquirer. According the the front page ,Harry and meghan , left to Canada to conspire with Bernie to figure out how they’re gonna present the cure and they didn’t want to share the money with the royal family.
How does he get a test when he doesn’t have a fever or a cough? Most Americans with legit symptoms can’t get one.
Any millionaire buying a test from a private company should also donate 100 tests (or whatever is feasible) to local hospitals. I can’t begrudge someone for doing what they can afford to do, but try helping out others at the same time.
This should say A Super Bowl-winning head coach, who had to take an involuntary year off after the win.