So Broncos head coach Sean Payton was the face of evil Saints empire, one despised by Bucs fans for years.

Today, he might have lost a few haters in Tampa after Joe asked Payton a question about Lavonte David.

Payton was holding court with media at the NFL Scouting Combine and Joe joined in, as listening talk to Payton talk offense is always an education. And Joe had a mission: to ask Payton about Lavonte David.

Joe told Payton that David is pondering retirement and asked Payton if he thinks David has a Hall of Fame résumé.

“I do,” said Payton, noting David has Hall of Fame credentials. “I say that respectfully. And I know there was a lot of offseason talk; there always is those discussions, which are healthy discussions, with players or people, ‘Are they Hall of Fame worthy?’ I just saw [David] for so long. [David] would be like the Tony Gwynn example of just consistency over a long period of time, and there’s something to be said for that. Like extremely smart [player], and those guys are always difficult because they see all your flaws [on offense] if you’re not paying attention to them — your self-scout. That’s what was hard with [playing against] Luke Kuechly. We would spend hours trying to see what he was seeing, because there was nothing worse when someone like that would call a play out at the NFL level and you’re like, ‘How did they get that?’ So, I wish [David] well whatever he decides, but he’s something.”

Cool stuff. Payton had a lot of passion in his voice. Twenty-five minutes into the news conference, Payton’s energy seemed to perk up when Joe mentioned David.

For those confused by Payton’s Tony Gwynn analogy, Gwynn was a Hall of Fame baseball player who played 20 years for the San Diego Padres and was a model of batting consistency, though he did not hit for power. Gwynn also was a hell of a defensive player early in his career.

David is on the shelf when it comes to playing this season. If he does retire, in five years he’ll be eligible for the Hall and likely the subject of years of debate, in which Payton’s comments today will be helpful.