Sean Patrick Payton was born December 29, 1963, and he is better known as an American football coach who is the head coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) and a former quarterback.
Payton served as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 2006 to 2021, leading the franchise to its first Super Bowl victory during the 2009 season.
Where did Sean Payton go to college and high school?
Payton was born in San Mateo, California, and raised in Naperville, Illinois. Payton lived in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, during his grade school and middle school years from 1970 to 1978.
Payton attended Naperville Central High School in Naperville, Illinois, starting as quarterback his senior year before graduating in 1982. Winning a football scholarship, Payton had a successful career playing quarterback at Eastern Illinois University, leading the Panthers to an 11–2 record and the quarter-finals of the Division I-AA Playoffs in 1986.
While attending EIU, he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and was later named a Significant Sig; one of Sigma Chi’s highest honors. Under coach Al Molde, Payton’s Eastern Illinois teams were known as “Eastern Airlines” due to their prolific passing attack that frequently topped 300 yards per game (and had 509 passing yards in one game, still a school record).
Did Sean Payton ever play college football?
Yes, Payton was a quarterback at Naperville Central High School and Eastern Illinois University and played professionally in 1987 with the Chicago Bears and in 1988 overseas in Britain for the Leicester Panthers.
Payton tried out for the Kansas City Chiefs for one day. In 1987, he played quarterback for the Chicago Bruisers and Pittsburgh Gladiators during the inaugural season of the Arena Football League, before his rights were sold for $1,000.00 to the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League.
Payton was also a member of the Chicago Bears squad of strikebreaking replacement players, known as the “Spare Bears”, during the 1987 NFL players strike.
Source: nflfaqs.com
