Sean Payton Injury: Saints Head Coach Should Pull a JoePa and Stay on Sideline

If an 84-year old man does everything he possibly can to stay on the sideline, so should Sean Payton.  The New Orleans head coach broke his leg and tore his MCL after Jimmy Graham fell into him on the sideline on Sunday afternoon.  Payton will be forced into the coach’s box for a couple weeks, but he must get back to the Saints’ sideline ASAP.

According to ESPN, Payton will undergo surgery on Monday.  He talked to the media about the injury, saying, “I might have to be up in the press box for a few games.  Because it’s a fracture, it’s different.  If it’s the MCL you can have the brace, but the fracture on the outside means the weight-bearing part of it really changes.’’

That 84-year old man is Penn State’s Joe Paterno.  According to the San Francisco Chronicle, JoePa is finally moving to the press box, but he’s resisted for years.  He told reporters prior to the season that (via the Washington Post): “Being upstairs is for the birds. I like to be on the sidelines and get a feel for things and be able to grab a kid and tell him certain things.”

And that’s why Payton should do everything in his power to be on the sideline for his team.  Not so he can simply grab his players, but because face-to-face communication is always going to be more efficient than play calling over a head set.  Leading a football team is difficult if you aren’t on the sideline with the players.

Payton wasn’t on the field for the second half and his favored Saints couldn’t pull off the comeback.  Now, it may be a stretch to say that if Payton was on the field New Orleans would’ve won, but he definitely would’ve made a difference.

The Super Bowl champion shouldn’t make a reckless decision to get back to the sideline, but at the same time, he can’t be overcautious.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.  Follow him on Twitter.