There was a slightly awkward moment at coach Sean Payton’s Saturday press conference, when a reporter mentioned that Payton and his next opponent, 49ers coach Mike Singletary, once played for the Bears.
The reality is that, while both were members of the 1987 Bears, Payton was a Chicago-style Shane Falco, playing in three games while Singletary and the “real” Bears were on strike.
But Payton didn’t pick the scab off of his time as a, um, scab. Instead, he deftly avoided mentioning that he was a replacement player.
“We weren’t really teammates,” Payton said. “He was not playing and then we came in and played.”
At least Payton didn’t say, “We didn’t try to cross the picket line. We did cross the picket line. Next question.”