PALM BEACH, Fla. — Sean Payton faced the music Tuesday, just hours before the disgraced Saints coach planned to meet with Bill Parcells about a temporary takeover of the embattled franchise.
Payton spoke to reporters during the NFL meetings in what was his first public appearance since Roger Goodell slapped the former Giants offensive coordinator with an unprecedented one-year suspension for his part in the Bountygate scandal.
Taking questions for about 20 minutes inside The Breakers Hotel, Payton said he is still considering an appeal to the commissioner but vowed to return to the sidelines for New Orleans for the 2013 season no matter what happens.
“They’ve been difficult, challenging,” Payton said of the days since the punishment for the cash-for-injuries scheme came down. “You find out how close some of your friends are, and I said this in our statement, our fans back in New Orleans have been amazing.”
Payton’s suspension officially begins Sunday, and league sources said he planned to meet with Parcells at Parcells’ nearby home in Jupiter, Fla., to discuss the 70-year-old coaching legend replacing him on an interim basis.
Payton confirmed that was the Saints’ plan, and that the interview with Parcells also would include Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and owner Tom Benson.
Parcells has been coy about coming out of his self-proclaimed retirement for a third time, neither confirming nor denying his interest in the job in an interview Monday with The Post at a Mets-Cardinals spring training game.
Payton insisted Tuesday the media had “gotten a little ahead of ourselves” with officially linking Parcells to the temporary vacancy. But he raved about his former mentor, calling Parcells a father figure.
“We really haven’t gotten into [the actual job],” Payton said of his talks with Parcells. “I’ve really called him more as just a mentor, someone just to shoot some ideas off. So the dialogue I have with him would be pretty normal., especially in this area [of the country].
“For me to be down here and [not] call him or try to set up a time to try to see him [would] probably get his wrath,” Payton added. “The specifics in regards to him coaching — that would be something that [Saints general manager] Mickey [Loomis] and I and our owner and Bill would deal with at a later time.”
The Parcells situation continues to prompt buzz at the league meetings here, and Jets coach Rex Ryan even poked fun at Payton for the idea.
“If I was Sean Payton, I don’t know if I would appoint Bill Parcells to be the interim head coach,” Ryan said yesterday morning. “I might choose somebody else, like my son. I’m going to make sure that they miss me.”
As for his Bountygate punishment, which will cost Payton $5.8 million in salary, he isn’t disputing its fairness. But Payton obviously remains miffed at Goodell’s continued description of him being evasive and untruthful during the league’s two-year investigation. and, specifically, in meetings with the commissioner.
“We take his office very seriously and the role he has,” Payton said. “In the two trips to New York [to meet with Goodell], I made sure to do everything in my power to answer the questions honestly.”
Payton said he remains unbowed by the mess.
“Certainly you take lumps and I’ve taken them before, but I look forward to getting back … to winning and being successful and being a part of it,” he said. “But that being said, I look forward to getting back to this position. I look forward to winning, and we’ll do that.”