Sean Payton Weighs In On Mike Shanahan's Hall of Fame Candidacy

Yeah, look, I was telling the story is a high school player in Illinois. You heard of Eastern Illinois, Daryl Mudra. And then by the time I went to school there, Mike was coaching. I don't think he was in the NFL yet. I think that happened while I was at Eastern. But you always pointed to people, you know, at a small school like that, that were having success. And then, you know, I've told the story the first time I was ever a young assistant. It was the first game here at our stadium the day or the night before 9-11, Monday Night Football. And I remember introducing myself, having a chance to talk to him. And then over the years, becoming pretty close. You know, then it was Romo and then it was Garoppolo. But he's always been, for me, a really good resource. And, you know, we had that in common. We were both from the Chicagoland area and went to the same college. And then there were quite a few, you know, mutual acquaintances, people we knew. Yeah, he's going to be there. And the only frustrating thing is when, well, it's been said, when you've got a couple, you know, Bill, obviously, is going to be there. Mike's going to be there. It's not if, it's just, you know, what year.