LONDON — The grainy footage is on YouTube for all to see of Sean Payton playing quarterback in 1988. The crowd is chanting, “Defense! Defense! Defense!” A band is playing.

But this game was not held in the United States. It was instead played at Saffron Lane Velodrome in Leicester, England, between the Leicester Panthers and the Nottingham Hoods.

Yes, Payton, after having played at Eastern Illinois and in the Arena Football League and the Canadian Football League and having a three-game stint as a Chicago Bears replacement quarterback during the 1987 NFL strike, once played for the Panthers in the now-defunct UK Budweiser National League. As the starting quarterback, he led them to an 8-5 regular-season record and a playoff berth.

Payton returned to the United States later in 1988 to become a coach and is now in his third season as head man of the Broncos. And with Denver facing the New York Jets on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Payton talked on Wednesday about his playing days in England.

“That was a long time ago,’’ Payton said after a Broncos practice at the Tottenham Training Ground in suburban Enfield. “In the (English) Midlands, it’s not like the tourists flood that area. So there was a league up there, Leicester, Nottingham, Birmingham, a number of teams. … There weren’t many Americans. We were treated great. … I remember a lot about that season and made some great friends.”

Payton has such fond memories of those times that during Friday’s practice, the Broncos will host players from the Under-17 Leicester team.

“It’ll be good to catch up with a number of these guys later in the week,’’ said Payton, referring to those affiliated with the Leicester program. “So we’ll make sure we take care of them.”

Payton was able to see some old friends from Leicester the previous two times he took a team to London. He was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints when they beat the San Diego Chargers 37-32 in 2008 and the Miami Dolphins 20-0 in 2017.

Payton recalled how he ended up playing football in England well before he became a notable coach.

“I’d been in the Arena League, I’d been up in the CFL, then back in the States, just finished playing during that strike season and was getting ready to kind of get into coaching,’’ Payton said. “Then the owner of the team had reached out, Barry Wardle, and it was just one more (time to play). I can remember my mother saying, ‘All of your friends are getting married, and they have health insurance, and what are you doing?”’

Payton was one of four American players on the Panthers. He also helped coach the team.

“We would coach, and play, and then practice would be 5:30-ish,’’ Payton recalled. “So when everyone was finished working, we’d go for a couple hours and then play our games on the weekend. For (English players), it was the love of the game, and the four of us (Americans) lived in a house. We’d go work out in the mornings, play some golf, put practice plans together. (Players on the team) had sorts of jobs. I’m telling you, from bouncers to construction. They were all in different occupations. Some were young, some were older. That was fun.”

The video online shows Payton scoring on a run around right end and throwing down a spike in celebration. Payton, in the game, had a number of impressive deep passes that were dropped. A British journalist said Wednesday that the Panthers ended up running the ball more than throwing because the receivers “couldn’t catch” Payton’s passes.

The journalist said the quality of play in the league was even lower than NCAA Division III. Payton had been a record-setting quarterback from 1983-86 for Eastern Illinois, also known as the Panthers, in what was then known as NCAA Division I-AA.

“I was 23 years old right out of college and basically playing for pizza because you enjoyed it,’’ Payton said of his Leicester stint. “It was a good sixth months. It was nice.”

To this day, Payton continues to talk to his players about his experience of playing in England.

“I learn something new about coach every week,’’ said Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton. “It was cool to hear that he played here before.”

After playing for Leicester, Payton hooked on as an offensive assistant at San Diego State later in 1988. He took his first NFL assistant job with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1997 and his first head position with the Saints in 2006.

“I think a jersey somewhere, pictures,’’ Payton said of what remains from his playing days in England. “But more importantly, again, not the physical, it’s all the memories. That’s the thing that was the best part of it.”

Memories came back after the Broncos touched down in London on Monday morning after having left Philadelphia following their 21-17 upset of the Eagles on Sunday. At one point, Payton thought a detour to Leicester might be in order on this visit to England.

“I was asking the bus driver on the way over, ‘How long is it (to Leicester) from where we’re at?’ He said, ‘Two, two-and-a-half hours,’’’ Payton said. “So it might be tough to get over there.”