Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald says Broncos’ Sean Payton accused him of cheating

by · The Seattle Times

The Seahawks’ trip to Denver on Oct. 15 was already set to get plenty of attention, billed by some as the Super Bowl of a year ago that never was.

But revelations that became public from Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald’s recent sit-down interview with Graham Bensinger figure to ratchet up the spotlight that much more.

In a clip making the rounds on social media Tuesday, Macdonald revealed that Denver coach Sean Payton became upset and accused the Seahawks of cheating in 2024 when he found out that the Seahawks had found about 100 clips of Broncos’ training-camp practices that had been posted by fans on social media and used them in scouting for the regular season opener. 

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Questions emerged Tuesday whether Macdonald made the comments knowing they would become public. Macdonald’s comments on Payton are not included in the main one-hour, 44-minute sit-down that is available on Bensinger’s YouTube page.

The comments appear to have come in a session that was not part of the main interview and filmed from the side. After the clip became available and was shared and copied on social media, the clip did not appear to be available on Bensinger’s YouTube site later in the day.

An email sent to the Broncos requesting comment on the story was not immediately returned. The Seahawks said they had no comment.

The Seahawks won that game 26-20 in the first game for Macdonald as the Seahawks’ coach and Payton in Denver.

“He’s not my biggest fan,” Macdonald said, explaining that Payton initiated what Macdonald said was a “cold war” between the two teams before it was resolved at the end of the season.

Macdonald says the clips were “like public knowledge. So we took like 100 plays from their training camp and we’re scouting ‘em” to prepare for the game.

Macdonald said Payton found out about it at some point during the season.

“He got wind of it, and he lost it,” Macdonald said. 

“… So he called (general manager) John (Schneider). He basically like threatened to come out publicly and do like a whole Patriot, like Spygate type of thing (a reference to the cheating scandal involving the New England Patriots in 2007).

“And I’m sitting there like, ‘Oh my God, we didn’t cheat.’ He thought it was a Michigan thing, or we had a plant and the whole thing (a reference to the Michigan sign-stealing scandal in 2023).”

Macdonald said the Seahawks let the Broncos know they would fight back if Payton made the allegations public.

“So, we had to like counter with him to say like, ‘Hey, look, if you come out with this, we’re going to like sue you, because it’s not true,” Macdonald said. 

Eventually, Macdonald said Payton “backed down. But he was killing John, our GM.”

Macdonald indicated the issue ended with the end of the 2024 season.

“The season ends, and he let it go,” Macdonald said. “But it was like the Cold War. (They’re) like, ‘I’m gonna hit the button, I’m gonna hit the button.’ We’re like, ‘We’re gonna hit the button.’ So none of us hit the button.”

Macdonald also indicated he and Payton have resolved things, saying he ran into Payton at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis the following year.

Macdonald said he went for a run and was getting out of the elevator and Payton entered.

Macdonald said he was “kind of like over him” in the elevator. Payton simply said, “Hey coach” and “totally, totally backed down in that moment. So I was like, ‘Oh man, that was great.’”

The Seahawks don’t allow fans to take videos of team drills during open training camp practices, which has been the custom for a few years.

The Broncos and the Seahawks will play Thursday night, Oct. 15 at Empower Field in Denver in a matchup of the top playoff seeds in each conference last season. The Patriots beat Denver in the AFC title game after Denver quarterback Bo Nix suffered a broken ankle in the divisional round against Buffalo.