His phone rings in December 2014, and it’s too early. Sean Payton has a bad feeling. He is on his way to present a game ball to Bailey Elizabeth Leon, a 12-year-old patient at Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans. The pair have become friends over the course of multiple visits. Payton promises her the Saints will beat the Chicago Bears on Monday night and he is returning with a gift.
As he looked at the football in his passenger seat and answered the call, Payton knew something was wrong: Bailey was gone, passing away from pediatric cancer.
“I pulled over on the side of the road and immediately called both my children (Connor and Meghan).