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Todd Bowles Gave One of the Wildest Press Conference Answers Ever

Bowles joked about just how close he and tight end Payne Durham really are after the Bucs beat the Jets.

Stephen Douglas

Todd Bowles joked that he and his tight end were “secret lovers."
Todd Bowles joked that he and his tight end were “secret lovers." / Tampa Bay Buccaneers / YouTub
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The Buccaneers pulled off another last-minute victory in Week 3 against the Jets and are now 3-0 this season. Spirits were understandably high following the game and the good vibes carried over to head coach Todd Bowles's postgame press conference.

Asked by ESPN's Jenna Laine about a moment in the tunnel after the game with tight end Payne Durham, Bowles gave one of the more surprising answers you'll ever hear a coach say into a microphone.

"Me and Payne have a relationship not many people know about and we're secret lovers," Bowles said.

If it hadn't been tweeted by an actual ESPN personality, you'd assume it was AI generated, but here it is in Bowles's press conference video from the Bucs' official YouTube page.

Bowles is now 34-20 with the Bucs since taking over for Bruce Arians ahead of the 2022 season. The Bucs took Durham in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft, and obviously the coach and player have become quite close since then.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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