Sean Payton Calls Jon Gruden A 'Dumbf-ck' For Paying $100k Fine For Not Wearing His Mask Properly During 2020 NFL Season

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A countless number of players and coaches around the NFL were slapped with fines for breaking COVID protocols during the 2020 campaign. Sean Payton and Jon Gruden were among that group, but only one of the head coaches decided to pay up.

According to ESPN, during a Week 2 matchup between Payton's Saints and Gruden's Raiders, the two coaches were found to be in violation of the league's policy. Their egregious offense? Not wearing their masks properly on the sideline.

The No Fun League elected to slap them both with $100,000 fines. For not wearing a cloth over their faces. While every player on the field was maskless.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton uses cringe motivation tactic. (Credit: Getty Images)

Sean Payton wasn't about to pay his NFL fine for not wearing his mask the right way. (Credit: Getty Images)

Anyways, Gruden appealed the fine, but ultimately paid the six figures before the end of the season. Payton took a different approach in the form of not paying a penny of it and hilariously called out Gruden for paying up.

“I never paid the fine,” Sean Payton told Gruden. “You’re the only dumbf-ck that paid the fine.”

It's unclear if Payton has since paid the fine, but it's likely a guarantee that if he hasn't, ESPN bringing up the topic again resulted in someone at the league office sending a reminder to the Denver Broncos' head coach.

With COVID behind us, it's hard to imagine the NFL re-sanctioning a fine about a mask three years later, but you never know. Payton dragging the situation out and playing the long game here was the right strategy, that's for sure.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.