Sean Payton's Awkward Kiss With Charissa Thompson Caught on Camera Before Broncos Game

Sean Payton had a football game to worry about Thursday night. By the time the Denver Broncos kicked off against the Seattle Seahawks, however, a few seconds from his pregame routine had already become a story of their own.

And it wasn't anything he said.

Payton, 62, was finishing an interview with Prime Video's Charissa Thompson before the Oct. 15 matchup when he pulled the broadcaster toward him and kissed her on the cheek. The cameras caught the exchange, and the footage quickly found an audience on social media.

For viewers watching at home, it was an unexpected ending to an otherwise routine pregame interview. Some found it awkward. Others wondered why the moment was attracting so much attention in the first place.

There was also a detail about Payton and Thompson's relationship that helped explain why the Broncos coach might have greeted her so familiarly.

Sean Payton's Kiss With Charissa Thompson Sparks Reactions

The exchange happened on the field at Empower Field at Mile High, where Thompson was speaking with Payton ahead of Denver's Week 6 game.

As their conversation ended, Payton put his arm around Thompson, leaned in and kissed her cheek before heading off.

It was over almost as quickly as it began. But the cameras had caught enough to turn a routine pregame interview into one of the night's more unexpected talking points.

As footage spread across social media, fans began weighing in on the kiss, with some finding the interaction uncomfortable and others questioning whether the reaction was overblown. The brief exchange left plenty of room for interpretation, particularly for viewers who had no idea the two had worked together before.

Neither Payton nor Thompson has publicly addressed the attention surrounding the clip, and there's no indication that the greeting was anything more than a friendly moment between former colleagues.

Their professional history, however, offers some context that may have been lost amid the online chatter.

Sean Payton and Charissa Thompson Have Worked Together Before

Long before Payton returned to the sidelines in Denver, he spent a season on the other side of the camera.

After stepping away from the New Orleans Saints following the 2021 NFL season, Payton joined Fox Sports as an analyst in 2022. Thompson was part of the network's NFL coverage at the time, putting the two in the same broadcasting circle.

Payton's television career lasted just one season. The Broncos hired him in 2023, bringing the Super Bowl-winning coach back to the NFL sidelines.

Thompson, meanwhile, has remained a familiar face to football fans through her work with Prime Video's Thursday Night Football coverage.

Their shared history doesn't necessarily settle the debate over Thursday's greeting, but it does provide context for an exchange that might otherwise have seemed completely out of the blue.

While the clip was making the rounds, Payton still had a game to coach, and Denver's offense wasn't making his night particularly easy.

The Broncos managed just 168 total yards against Seattle and struggled heavily on offense throughout the second half. Quarterback Bo Nix finished with 107 passing yards, and the Seahawks rallied late to force overtime. Denver ultimately escaped with a 17-14 victory after Ja'Quan McMillian intercepted Sam Darnold and Wil Lutz connected on a 53-yard field goal.

It wasn't a pretty win, but it moved the Broncos to 4-2.

Payton left the stadium with the result he wanted. Whether he expected a routine pregame greeting to become one of the night's most widely discussed moments is another question entirely.