LONDON -- It exists as one line of Sean Payton's football résumé, a list that includes 173 regular-season wins as an NFL coach, a Super Bowl victory and several record-setting seasons on offense. But Payton the coach was once Payton the aspiring player -- an Illinois Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

In 1988, he spent a six-month stint in England as a quarterback clinging to a last chance to play the game that has since become his livelihood. Payton is making his third trip to England as a head coach -- this time with the Denver Broncos , who face the New York Jets Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ( 9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network ) -- but he was once behind center for the Leicester Panthers.

"I was 23 years old," Payton said. "Right out of college and basically playing for pizza, becaus

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