\u201cFor 68 plays a game, he would get the call, turn early, queue the tips in the huddle, call the play \u2014 countless times, he just brought everyone to a space like the great ones have,\u201d Payton said on Brees. \u201cAnd you guys have seen it here (in Denver). And they\u2019re hard to find.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Head](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TDP-L-BRONCOSAO1_0748x.jpg\")
Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos speaks after practice at Broncos Park in Centennial, Colorado on Thursday, July 30, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n
Present subtext dripped from his words of the past, as the city of Denver hopes Payton has found a next great one, two decades later. The coach has truly handpicked only two quarterbacks over his 19-year head-coaching career.\u00a0The first was Brees, who meant so much to his life that the non-fuzzy Payton\u00a0teared up when his old quarterback called this June<\/a> to ask for his hand for the Hall of Fame presentation.\u00a0The second is Bo Nix, who has worlds to conquer before Payton could ever speak of him in the same breath.<\/p>\n And yet Payton wouldn\u2019t have drafted Nix in 2024, of course, if he didn\u2019t see a similar path to Canton one day.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir personalities are different, of course,\u201d Payton said, part of an answer when asked about Nix\u2019s similarities to Brees. \u201cBut their accuracy and their positioning of the ball is certainly noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n As Payton aims to continue pushing Nix to Brees-level heights in his third training camp in Denver<\/a>, the Broncos\u2019 head coach will step away next week \u2014 for just a day \u2014 to revel in the past. Payton told reporters he\u2019ll fly out with a \u201cgroup\u201d of former Saints associates from Denver to Canton next Friday night, and miss the Broncos\u2019 Aug. 8 practice for Brees\u2019 HOF induction.<\/p>\n Payton will be back for the start of the third week of Denver\u2019s camp Aug. 10, and indicated defensive coordinator and head-coach hopeful Vance Josep<\/a>h will \u201cprobably\u201d run the practice he\u2019ll miss Aug. 8.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just a lot, being 15 years together,\u201d Payton said, on Brees asking him to give a HOF speech in June. \u201cAnd honestly, the thing I remember talking to him later \u2014 a lot of times, for a number of reasons, those quarterback-head coach relationships, you kinda always take for granted. And yet oftentimes, they don\u2019t end like you\u2019d want them to end. And I was really proud it ended the way he wanted it to.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, in a previous life, Brees was an 11-time Pro Bowler and two-time Offensive Player of the Year who shattered league passing records while playing for Payton with the Saints. Through shifting supporting casts and strange circumstances \u2014 Payton\u2019s \u201cBountygate\u201d suspension in 2012 \u2014 the two brought a Super Bowl in 2009 and rebuilt New Orleans\u2019 franchise in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.<\/p>\n In June, a video team from Canton arrived at the Broncos minicamp to interview Payton and record a 10-minute-long pre-induction tribute for Brees. And Payton, a compulsive perfectionist who will light candles and pound caffeine to watch tape in unhealthy hours of the morning, found himself unable to properly and succinctly describe his former future Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n They finished, that day this summer. And Payton asked the team if they were planning to stay after the Broncos\u2019 practice, and told them he\u2019d come back and re-don his suit and tie. They asked why. Payton told them he wanted to do the whole thing over, to capture a different variety of responses.<\/p>\n They were there, interviewing Payton, for another three hours.<\/p>\n \u201cYour fear,\u201d Payton said, \u201cis it\u2019s not going to be good enough, or complete enough.\u201d<\/p>\n On Thursday, in a more relaxed setting, Payton became a bard, rattling off tales that will no doubt have a place in next week\u2019s tribute for Brees. There was the initial courtship of Brees back in 2006\u2019s free agency, when Payton got lost trying to show the quarterback around a hurricane-torn New Orleans and convinced himself Brees would sign with Miami instead. There was one game where a New Orleans punter, Payton recalled, had reserved 42 tickets for family, and Brees came out so hot that the Saints simply never punted.<\/p>\n There was reverence enough, certainly, to justify missing a Saturday day of camp.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like a pitcher having a no-hitter,\u201d Payton said, recalling Brees\u2019 precision. \u201cI think he\u2019s one of the only players, when he played, it almost looked like Madden.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, when Payton returns, he\u2019ll have work to resume with Nix, who misfired several times during a red-zone team period Thursday but has looked perfectly healthy in his first two full Broncos practices since two offseason ankle surgeries<\/a>. And Payton, of course, acknowledged that any Brees-to-Nix comparison was \u201ctough.\u201d<\/p>\n But he drew one just the same.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say just, the immediate analytical, statistical number would be, the accuracy numbers,\u201d Payton said Thursday. \u201cFrom an NFL perspective, (Brees) will go down as the most accurate passer in the history of the league. And collegiately, he was at Purdue.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I think historically speaking, Bo was the most accurate college passer, when you look at a lot of numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n Nix, indeed, still holds the single-season FBS record for completion percentage (77.4%), set at Oregon in 2023. He finished 24th of 33 qualified quarterbacks, though, in that metric in his second season in the NFL (63.4%) in 2025.<\/p>\n And Payton\u2019s Brees testimonial on Thursday ultimately provided both a heap of nostalgia and a reminder of the heights Nix can \u2014 and may be expected to \u2014 reach.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had that rare trait of bringing out the best in everyone,\u201d Payton recalled of Brees. \u201cAnd that was a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n