METAIRIE, La. -- Sean Payton may have created the next viral T-shirt slogan in New Orleans just in time for the holiday shopping season.
The Saints coach revealed on his weekly WWL Radio show that he told a butcher at Whole Foods to "worry about your frickin' meat" on Sunday night after being asked about a failed 2-point conversion attempt in the first quarter of Sunday's 48-46 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
"I certainly understand the fans asking questions," Payton told WWL. "I got the guy at frickin' Whole Foods asking me about the 2-point play. I looked at him, the guy in the meat section, and I said, 'Hey, your steaks don't look too good right now. Worry about your frickin' meat.'"
Payton said the conversation was mostly in jest when he explained more of the backstory Thursday, saying it "wasn't really a negative" comment from the butcher -- but that he couldn't let it go.
"You know, on Sunday after a game, I'm going to pick up some food for dinner, I really don't want to hear about a 2-point playcall. Anyway, it just got under my skin. I circled my cart back around and kind of called him out," Payton said. "I was kind of sliding down the aisle, got the produce right here to the left, you see the meats, I made a right and I'm heading for the coffee. I thought they were all kind of in jest, and I heard one of them say something about, 'Why'd you go for two?' I kept walking toward the dairy and I'm like, 'Ah, I'm not letting this go, I'm turning around.'
"I went back and he was fine, it wasn't negative, he just wanted to know. And I explained it to him. I would never [usually go for two] that early. But when we get a penalty, now we're on the 1-yard line and we're 50% closer. He got it. Then I gave him a hard time and said, 'Some of these cuts don't look good to me.' That was what happened. It was in jest. We were having a little fun."
Payton further explained that he decided to go for two because of the new NFL rule that allows personal-foul penalties to be assessed on 2-point tries (tight end Jared Cook was hit in the head during his touchdown catch). Payton said he "really felt good about" the playcall he had in mind -- though it wound up flopping when the 49ers misaligned and had an extra defender on the side of the field where backup quarterback Taysom Hill was tackled for a loss.
"I didn't feel like kicking a touchback, thought about kicking an onside kick," Payton said. "So on the 1-yard line, I think we're gonna get two points. And then we get the defense misaligned, obviously it doesn't have any success. And then the game ends and, 'Why were you going for two?' Because I wanted to. We were on the 1-yard line."
Payton also confirmed that, yes, "I was actually shopping for my dinner at Whole Foods.
"People are like, 'Oh, he actually shops for his dinner?'" Payton said. "Yeah, I shop for my dinner. And I go down the aisle with an aisle cart like everyone else."