Editor's note: This story is an excerpt from the book "American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback," which will be available on Sept. 9 from Disney Publishing's Hyperion Avenue.
"DO YOU PROMISE with every shred of your integrity that you won't discuss this with anyone?" Sean Payton asks me on a March 2024 afternoon.
"Yes," I say.
On this day, Payton is 60 years old and in his 18th year as an head coach, now with the Denver Broncos, and 27th season working in the NFL, one of the greatest offensive minds in history.