Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton didn’t celebrate his team’s preseason win against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday.
Instead, he took the time after the 28-19 victory against his former team to celebrate one of New Orleans’ favorite sons.
On the way to the airport after leaving the Superdome, Payton took the Broncos’ entire six-bus, 180-person travel party to Mount Olivet Cemetery in Gentilly to recognize Fats Domino and pay respects to the musical legend, who died in 2017 at age 89.
Broncos players and coaches visited Domino’s tomb on the first floor of the historic mausoleum and displayed a floral arrangement, highlighted with flowers in the team’s orange and navy blue colors.
Had to make one stop leaving #Nola yesterday.
Honoring the late great Fats Domino. pic.twitter.com/svgrV4us4O
— Sean Payton (@SeanPayton) August 25, 2025
The visit was the offshoot of a Broncos’ game-week tradition. To set the tone for the week ahead, the Broncos play music representative of the city of the Broncos’ upcoming opponent. At the meeting, Payton played two of Domino’s biggest hits, “Ain’t That a Shame” and “Blueberry Hill,” and asked his players and coaches how many of them had heard of the legendary pianist, who was born and raised in the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans. Only a handful of people in the room raised their hand, spurring Payton to schedule the visit for the Broncos’ trip to New Orleans.
“It hit me, but it also upset me, relative to this icon, who was born in this city,” Payton said to the players and coaches at the cemetery in a video of the visit posted on his social media account. “We should know who Fats Domino is.”
The visit was originally scheduled to occur on the day before the game, but it was delayed until Saturday afternoon after the team’s charter flight to New Orleans on Friday afternoon arrived later than expected.
Payton is in his third year as the head coach of the Broncos. He coached the Saints from 2006 to 2020, leading the club to its only Super Bowl championship in 2009.