Thomas Payton worked in insurance. Casualty claims, specifically. Because of that, Sean Payton said his father raised him with as little danger as possible. The Paytons had no trampoline, growing up in Naperville, Illinois. No swimming pool. No motorcycle. Thomas Payton’s kid knew every possible sharp corner that existed in their home. And maybe — just maybe — it explains why he reads his play-sheet the way he does, 62-year-old Sean Payton said. “When I was younger, we’d run a reverse on the 8-yard line and then think nothing of it,” Payton recalled. He was a 30-something offensive coordinator in New York then, and his next stop in Dallas brought the cold wisdom of Bill Parcells, who advised Payton that play-callers with overstuffed call sheets were insecure. And yet Payton’s sheer confidence — teetering into arrogance — formed an irremovable piece of his identity as a Super Bowl-winning offensive mind in New Orleans. Two days before his latest foray into the playoffs, Payton was particularly introspective after what could stand as the Broncos’ last practice of the year. Age has brought thoughts of conservatism scurrying into the back of his mind. Of the ramifications of a trick play that doesn’t hit. He wants that gone. “It was said, as you get older, maybe you don’t drive in the rain at night. You begin to — I can’t let that happen as a play-caller,” Payton said. The timing of such self-reflection was notable, on the direct horizon of an AFC divisional-round…
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