Back in 2012, Sean Payton was suspended by the NFL over the Saints bounty scandal and spent his time away from the NFL coaching offense for his son’s middle school football team. If that sounds like a really easy plot for a sports movie, Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production company agrees with you and will be producing, but the part that will cause most football fans to raise their eyebrows is the news of who is going to be playing the part of Payton.
It’s a Happy Madison movie, so that means there are only a few options on the table, and according to Peter King, the wheel landed on Kevin James this time around — with Payton having read and offered some edits on the script.
James is going to play Sean Payton in a Netflix movie called “Home Team,” produced by Happy Madison Productions. (Sound familiar? It’s the Adam Sandler company.) Imagine this: The plotline begins in 2012, when Payton is suspended for the season by commissioner Roger Goodell for the Saints’ bounty scandal, which gives Payton the chance to re-assess his life and put it in some perspective. As part of his new life, Payton becomes the offensive coach for his son Connor’s sixth-grade football team, the Warriors, in the Dallas area. (Thus, the “Home Team” title of the flick.) Filming of the movie begins this year. Payton read the script recently, made some corrections, and here it comes.
I don’t think James would’ve been the name at the top of the list for most folks if they were looking for accuracy in appearance, but that’s not to say he can’t do a good job. Still, as one person on Twitter pointed out, Frankie Muniz would’ve offered a much more spot on doppelgänger for Payton.
https://twitter.com/TheRealRyan_T/status/1381616521340887041
Honestly, James is probably the least ridiculous choice for a football coach on Happy Madison’s regular roster — like, imagine David Spade or Rob Schneider trying to sell themselves as an NFL coach. The only Sandler favorite that would’ve been better was if they just let John Turturro go completely unhinged in a role as a football coach here and see just how weird he can get with it. Anyways, you can look for this on Netflix in the somewhat near future.
