Leave it to Jonathan Vilma to keep it real with his friends. The fan-favorite former New Orleans Saints linebacker welcomed his old coach Sean Payton to the FOX Sports broadcasting team this offseason, and on Sunday he was given the opportunity to share some tips of the trade. Payton is covering a full day of NFL games from the FOX Sports studio, while Vilma is in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium press box working the Saints’ rivalry game with the Atlanta Falcons game.
“Just do the opposite of what you did as a coach,” Vilma grinned in a video call with Payton at the studio. “Don’t be a jerk, don’t be a know-it-all, and don’t have that constipated look on your face all day on Sundays.” He and his old coach shared a laugh, but Vilma advised Payton to have fun and enjoy the new perspective on games. It was a great moment.
Vilma and Payton are still very tight given their history — having won Super Bowl XLIV together and then experienced a lot of turmoil during the NFL’s Bountygate scandal. Vilma has been a special guest of the team at times during Payton’s tenure, and now they’ll be working for the same network each week. It’s good to see one of Payton’s former players is close enough with him to chop it up like this.
