Alejandro Avila
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New Broncos head coach Sean Payton delivered a fiery critique of last year’s Denver squad.
On Thursday, Payton set a flamethrower to Nathaniel Hackett and the 2022 Broncos, vowing he’ll do a better job than the 5-13 team. Payton singled out Hackett’s coaching job as one of the worst in NFL history.
READ: SEAN PAYTON TEES OFF ON BRONCOS ‘EMBARRASSING’ 2022 CAMPAIGN
“Everything I heard about last season, we’re doing the opposite,” Payton said in part.
Now one former Broncos is standing up to Payton and calling him out as a “f**king bum.”
Former Broncos offensive lineman Bily Turner, now playing for the Jets (where Hackett works as offensive coordinator), called out Payton on social media hours after the coach’s comments.
Jets Rally Around Nathaniel Hackett
Billy Turner quoted Sean Payton’s comments via his Instagram Stories. He made a reference to “BountyGate,” the infamous targeting campaign in New Orleans that got Payton suspended for the entire 2012 season.
“Seems like someone started training camp and is trying to soften the blow after realizing what he’s in for this season,” Turner posted. “F**king bum. #BountyGate.”
As USA Today relays, Billy Turner and Nathaniel Hackett have been close friends and collaborators on different teams (Packers, Broncos, Jets).
“Hackett, I consider one of my best friends. I love him as a friend,” Turner said, speaking with 9News in 2022.
“I know his wife and his kids and I love them all. They are some of the best people in the world. Not just football. People you meet in life. Hackett is one of the best people I’ve ever met, football or otherwise. I’ve had conversations with him about everything.”
In Payton’s defense, he skewered the entire organization for last year’s meltdown, minus Russell Wilson.
Even Jets HC Robert Saleh took his turn to defend Hackett on Thursday.
He responded with a half-baked answer that spouted a lot of game for an 11-23 coach.
“What we have going on here, I kind of live by the saying, ‘If you ain’t got no haters, you ain’t poppin.’ So hate away.”
Did Sean Payton go too far?
Or was the new Broncos coach on the money?
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Payton is a BLM worshipping gun grabbing clown. Hope they go 0 for–ever
Billy Turner was right. Both he and Hackett were f***ing bums last year. When you have the stadium counting down the play clock because you never get the plays in on time, that should tell you something. When you get fired and the interim head coach immediately fires two assistant coaches with only two weeks left in the season, that should tell you something. Turner played less than half the season on a sieve of an offensive line.
He’s trying too hard to project confidence. He comes off as cocky and deluded instead.