Saints Coach Sean Payton Trolls Falcons Over New Uniforms

The Atlanta Falcons unveiled their new uniforms this week, and it received mixed reactions from NFL fans. However, the uniforms also got the attention of New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, and he decided to have some fun with his rival. In one tweet, the Falcons showed off the details of the black (home) jerseys. Payton responded to the tweet by saying “impressive,” which was meant to be taken in a sarcastic tone.

Falcons fans attacked Payton immediately, but the Saints head coach was not bothered by it. In one tweet, Payton wrote; “Cov. 19 Social Media rules in place. Love our rivals, poke fun at our rivals and most importantly beat this Virus WITH our rivals.” Payton also made fun of the Falcons blowing a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl over three years ago in another Tweet.

The Saints weren’t the only NFC South team to make fun of the Falcons new threads. The Carolina Panthers went to Twitter to compare the uniforms to the ones worn in the Adam Sandler film The Longest Yard. The Falcons shrugged off the tweet by responding, “shine THRU the SHADE.” When the Falcons unveiled the uniforms, they explained why they made the bold changes.

“Like the city of Atlanta, black evokes strength, power, grit … and a little bit of swagger,” the team said in a press release. “Black jerseys have been a part of Falcons history since they first took the field in 1966, during the original Dirty Bird era in the late 1990s, from 2003-08 and more recently as alternates or throwbacks, amplified by personalities like Deion Sanders, Jerry Glanville and Michael Vick to Matt Ryan and Julio Jones.

“The color red reflects a shared sense of community in Atlanta as most of the major sports teams and many iconic homegrown brands share the color. Several signature elements across the new uniforms are highlighted in red including the familiar Falcons bird logo, the new ATL mark across the chest and the new stripe or ‘stoop’, down the side of the uniform. Red is also featured as a primary jersey color in the new gradient ‘Rise Up’ alternate uniform.

In 2019, the Falcons finished with a 7-9 record, which was good enough for second place in the NFC South. The Saints won the NFC South with a 13-3 mark, but lost to the Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round of the playoffs. The Panthers finished last in the division with a 5-11 record.