Payton: Shockey not bad guy he’s portrayed as

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — Sean Payton knows what, and who, he likes. And the New Orleans Saints head coach is a big fan of tight end Jeremy Shockey.

Of course, it helps that Payton and Shockey have a history. They were together with the New York Giants, where Payton served as the quarterbacks coach under Jim Fassel and Shockey was the team's brash, young receiving threat.

Things didn't work out for either one in New York. Payton moved on to the Dallas Cowboys, where he was an assistant to head coach Bill Parcells before taking over in New Orleans. Shockey stayed a little longer but was traded away to the Saints not long after the Eli Manning-led Giants won a Super Bowl title two years ago.

The reunion in the Big Easy has been beneficial for both coach and player.

"I like Jeremy Shockey. I love what he brings to this football team," Payton said recently. "I like his personality a lot. There's something that he has about him that brings a little confidence. You know our receivers are kind of quiet. He brings a little something to the huddle that I like."

According to the Saints coach, the notion that Shockey can be a load for his own coaching staff to handle — both on and off the field — is a misconception.

"I don't know that that's necessarily the case, really. He's a guy that [Monday] night was floating around the meeting rooms and half the team is out for dinner. He's looking at [game] tape and getting ice [on his sore knee]. So I think a little bit of that is mythical. It's fun to write about," Payton said.

"He's a wiser, older player who understands that at this stage, you begin to fight the arrow down. In order to do that, you've got to rest more, hydrate. He's doing a good job progressing with the injury. I think he'll be ready. He's excited about it [playing in Super Bowl]."

In a way, Super Bowl XLIV could serve as a bit of redemption for Shockey. He didn't play when New York beat the New England Patriots due to a broken leg. He had also reportedly gotten into the doghouse with the Giants' coaching staff.

"You want to play in [the Super Bowl]. It's something that coaches have always harped on you as a kid and in college about maybe one day [playing]. You hear stories about, 'I was at a Super Bowl or part of a Super Bowl team.' Thirty years from now, this is something that we can take, which is very special, and all of us that are on this team can talk about this 20 to 30 years from now," he said.

"We've had coaches that have been in this league for 30 years that haven't even been in a Super Bowl yet and we know how much is at stake and how much they want it as much as we do. I can promise you that it's going to be fun."

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(tribstar.com)