Sean Payton refused to pay COVID-19 violation fine, called Jon Gruden a ‘dumbf—‘ for doing so: repo

In 2020, both Sean Payton and Jon Gruden were both fined for improperly wearing their mask amid strict COVID-19 protocols.

However, apparently only one of them paid the six-figure fine, the latter, Gruden.

Gruden and Payton were both hit with a $100,000 fine for improperly wearing masks. (Gruden and the Las Vegas Raiders were hit with other fines due to protocol violations.) 

But that was a penalty that Payton was never going to fork over, and he made fun of Gruden for doing so.

Payton reportedly told Gruden that he, along with other coaches who were hit in their wallets, refused to pay up.

“I never paid the fine,” Payton is said to have told Gruden. “You’re the only dumbf— that paid the fine.”

Payton’s then New Orleans Saints were also fined $500,000 and docked a 2021 seventh-round draft pick over an incident where Payton and several players were caught on video celebrating in the locker room without masks on after a blowout win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9 of that season.

The Raiders were fined $800,000 so far this season, and Gruden was hammered with $250,000 in individual fines due to violations of that year’s protocols.

Gruden remains without a job after he resigned in 2021 following a leak of racist, homophobic, misogynistic comments in emails, while Payton has returned to the sidelines as the head coach of the Denver Broncos.