New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton admitted Monday he broke the fire alarm that wouldn't stop ringing inside the visitor's locker room at Paul Brown Stadium before Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"Clearly we were having issues with the fire alarm at a time relative to 20 minutes, 30 minutes before we're supposed to be out," Payton said, according to ESPN's Mike Triplett. "And it continued, it had gone on for 10 minutes. And I just needed the noise to stop."
A report surfaced Sunday evening claiming Payton had smashed the fire alarm to pieces. The Saints bench boss told reporters it would be "a little sensationalist" to say he "destroyed" the alarm, but conceded he may have done more than give the device a slight tap in an effort to silence it.
The fire alarm is going off at Paul Brown Stadium. The Saints must be walking into the building. pic.twitter.com/B2nXiYAOwL
— Michael DeMocker (@MichaelDeMocker) November 11, 2018
The loud distraction before the game clearly didn’t throw off the Saints on Sunday as they thoroughly dominated the Bengals to win their eighth straight game. https://t.co/rWZMUOT374 pic.twitter.com/1V6L6e5SgK
— New Orleans Saints | NOLA.com (@SaintsNOW) November 11, 2018
"And I gladly will take care of the repair cost," he said. "... And it was just something that had gone on - and in order for us as we got ready for the game, I thought that was important."
After Payton quieted the alarm, the Saints silenced the Bengals, pounding Cincinnati 51-14 to earn their eighth consecutive victory.
