How Zac Efron Became A Saints Fan For Life

Actor, heartthrob, Saints fan. All things that describe Zac Efron. But how did a California kid become the latter?

As it turns out, there's a story about meeting Saints head coach Sean Payton while Efron was in nothing but his underwear.

Zac Efron recently recounted the story on the sports podcast "Pardon My Take."

The actor was sitting on the couch in a rented house in New Orleans in 2011 while filming the Nicolas Sparks movie The Lucky One, in nothing but his boxer shorts, he heard someone walk in the door. Thinking it was his roommate/production partner, he stayed put, until he heard the undeniable clacking of high heels.

That's when he knew he would very soon be in the company of strangers.

They're about to see me, basically buck naked, so I grabbed a blanket and threw it over me," Efron said. "I suddenly go, 'Excuse me,' and she screams. … I go, 'What are you doing in my house?'

A couple, who were in the market for a new home in the area, were told they could view the house between 11AM-4PM when Efron was expected to be out.

I'm like, 'I don't know,'" Efron said, recalling the exchange. "And she goes, 'Maybe you know my husband? This is Sean Payton.' And I looked at the front door, and I'm wrapped in nothing but a blanket, and his wife is 2 feet from me … and he just walks in front of her and he goes, 'Hey, son. Nice to meet you. Big fan.'

After laughing off the incident, the couple and Efron went next door to Emeril's where he says they "ate the whole menu."

Efron was then able to visit the Saints camp, and threw ye olde pigskin with none other than future Hall of Famer Drew Brees...and the rest, they say, is history. “And,” Efron said, “I’m a Saints fan for life.”