Sean Payton Ruthlessly Called Out Russell Wilson Before Broncos Season

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton gave Russell Wilson a measure of tough love prior to this season. A big measure of it in fact.

In a recently released profile on Payton from ESPN's Seth Wickersham, a behind-the-scenes story is told of how Payton didn't hold back from calling out Wilson.

The way Wilson carried himself during his first season with the Broncos clearly rubbed Payton the wrong way and the longtime coach wants to see an attitude change from the quarterback before they begin their inaugural campaign together.

"Will you (expletive) stop kissing all the babies?" Payton said, per Wickersham. "You're not running for public office."

Wilson, who signed a five-year, $245 million contract extension with the Broncos last September after being traded by the Seattle Seahawks, exhibited some bizarre behavior in 2022 even for a star quarterback. He reportedly did high knees on a plane during the team's trip to play in London and it was rumored that he had his own office at the Broncos facility.

He didn't perform well on the field, either, making matters much worse. He had by far the worst season of his 11-year NFL career, completing only 60.5% of his passes for 3,524 yards with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 15 games.

After a ton of preseason hype, the Broncos finished dead last in the AFC West with a 5-12 record.

Denver brought in Payton to turn things around this season and a lot will hinge on how much the offensive guru can get out of the aging Wilson. But the first step in finding success might just be shutting down what Wickersham called "Russell Inc." and getting the signal-caller to put the team's needs above his own.