Macdonald reveals Payton threatened Spygate accusation over fan videos
Seattle's head coach disclosed that Denver's Sean Payton threatened a cheating scandal after the Seahawks used publicly posted training camp clips for scouting.
What to know
- Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald revealed that Broncos coach Sean Payton threatened a Spygate-style cheating accusation in 2024 after learning Seattle had compiled fan-posted training camp videos from social media for scouting purposes.
- The Seahawks won the Week 1 matchup 26-20 using intelligence from the publicly available fan videos; Payton's threat to go public was countered with a lawsuit warning, causing him to back down.
- The incident underscores how fan videos posted on social media have become a standard scouting tool in the NFL, raising questions about what constitutes legitimate intelligence gathering versus cheating.
“Payton apparently believed the Seahawks employed SpyGate-like strategies or went into full Connor Stalions mode to steal signals from the Broncos before a game.”
Chris Cwik, Yahoo Sports reporter · Yahoo Sports ↗
Mike Macdonald Seahawks head coach
Sean Payton Broncos head coachJohn Schneider Seahawks general managerGraham Bensinger Interviewer
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Macdonald discloses the Payton threat in Graham Bensinger interview
During an interview with Graham Bensinger, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald revealed the previously undisclosed 2024 conflict with Sean Payton, sharing details of the threat and its resolution.
“Sean Payton threatened to accuse the Seahawks of spying…”
— Mike Macdonald -
first by Sporting News, 1d ago · also ESPN, Seahawks Wire, Yahoo Sports, Bleacher Report, Denver Post, Newsweek +4
16 more headlines
- Macdonald says Broncos' Payton accused Seahawks of cheating ESPN · 1d ago
- Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald says Broncos HC Sean Payton accused him of cheating Seahawks Wire · 1d ago
- Broncos' Payton accused Seahawks of cheating in 2024, Macdonald says Sportsnet.ca · 1d ago
- Mike Macdonald says Sean Payton accused team of cheating after Seahawks used fan videos to scout Denver's offense Yahoo Sports · 1d ago
- Seahawks' Macdonald Says Sean Payton Was Unhappy with Use of Video from Broncos' Public Practice Bleacher Report · 1d ago
- Broncos’ Sean Payton accused Seahawks of cheating, sparking ‘Cold War,’ Mike Macdonald says nytimes.com · 1d ago
- Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald says Broncos’ Sean Payton accused him of cheating in 2024 Denver Post · 1d ago
- Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald Accuses Broncos’ Sean Payton of Threatening Him Newsweek · 1d ago
- Seahawks' Macdonald apologizes to Broncos' Payton for comments ESPN · 13h ago
- Macdonald says Broncos’ Payton accused Seahawks of cheating in 2024 TSN · 13h ago
- Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald called Broncos’ Sean Payton to apologize for cheating story Denver Post · 8h ago
- Seahawks' Macdonald apologizes to Payton for bragging about stealing Broncos plays 9News · 8h ago
- Mike Macdonald apologizes to Sean Payton for revealing Spygate-type accusations between Broncos and Seahawks Fox News · 7h ago
- Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald apologizes to Broncos’ Payton, takes blame for interview Yahoo Sports · 7h ago
- Sean Payton responds to Mike Macdonald’s statement that the Denver Broncos accused the Seattle Seahawks of cheating Yahoo Sports · 7h ago
- Seahawks HC Apologized to Broncos HC Sean Payton After Spilling Secret Newsweek · 5h ago
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first by Yahoo Sports, 1d ago · also Awful Announcing, Newsweek, Sporting News
9 more headlines
- Seahawks reportedly thought Mike Macdonald’s Sean Payton story was off-the-record Yahoo Sports · 15h ago
- Report: Seahawks not happy Mike Macdonald's comments about Sean Payton were released Yahoo Sports · 11h ago
- Mike Macdonald: I apologized to Sean Payton, comments weren't intended for public use Yahoo Sports · 9h ago
- Mike Macdonald apologized to Sean Payton after hot mic story about cheating allegations Yahoo Sports · 9h ago
- Mike Macdonald believed there was ‘an understanding’ Sean Payton comments wouldn’t be made public Awful Announcing · 8h ago
- Mike Macdonald apologizes to Sean Payton for viral story about cheating accusation he 'didn't intend for public use' Yahoo Sports · 6h ago
- Sean Payton addresses Mike Macdonald’s hot mic moment Yahoo Sports · 4h ago
- Sean Payton Shrugs Off Awkward Mike Macdonald Situation Newsweek · 3h ago
- Seahawks' Mike Macdonald apologizes to Broncos' Sean Payton after spying accusation goes public Yahoo Sports · 1h ago
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Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald in his presser today said he called Sean Payton yesterday to apologize for comments he said in an interview about how Payton was angry for Seattle stealing plays from Broncos training camp in 2024. Macdonald said he didn’t think his comments would go
2 more of the top 3 · 12 posts in this stretch
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Some people who cover the NFL don't realize they aren't Woodward and Bernstein. If they aren't, someone ought to be. The NFL is enormous and it is enormously influential. The owners are a club of ambitious and politically connected billionaires that both compete and collude. There is an increasing air of impunity around the league, though there is…
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Mike Macdonald explains how Seahawks used social media to scout Broncos in 2024 https://www. usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/ seahawks/2026/09/22/mike-macdonald-sean-payton-cheating-seahawks-broncos/91890713007/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into Sports @ sports-USAToday
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Payton backs down; Broncos increase training camp security — Payton did not go public with his accusations, and the matter was resolved quietly. Denver subsequently enforced stricter no-phone policies at its last two training camps.
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Seahawks threaten lawsuit to stop Payton from going public — The Seahawks countered Payton's threat by warning they would sue him over the allegations, arguing that using publicly available fan videos did not violate NFL rules and that his accusations would be false.
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Payton discovers Seahawks used fan videos and threatens public accusation — Sean Payton learned the Seahawks had compiled his training camp videos from social media and grew furious, calling Seahawks general manager John Schneider to threaten making a public accusation of Spygate-style cheating.
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Seahawks defeat Broncos 26-20 using scouted information — Seattle won its season opener against Denver, with Macdonald later revealing it was his first-ever win as an NFL head coach, achieved partly through the intelligence gained from fan videos.
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Seahawks compile fan videos of Broncos training camp from social media — The Seahawks collected approximately 100 plays from training camp videos that Broncos fans had posted on Twitter/X to use as a scouting advantage ahead of their Week 1 matchup.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by ESPN, 7h ago · also ESPN NFL
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first by Yahoo Sports, 1d ago
3 more headlines
- Seahawks news: Sean Payton threatened to accuse Seattle of Spygate-like cheating scandal Yahoo Sports · 1d ago
- Broncos Coach Accused Seattle Seahawks Of Cheating Yahoo Sports · 1d ago
- Seattle Seahawks Almost Accused of Cheating by Denver Broncos Yahoo Sports · 1d ago
and 2 smaller pieces
What people are saying 9 voices from 2 sites · best of 12 · verbatim
- Yesterday
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Imagine being so single-mindedly devoted to your team that you have to defend ol Butthole Mouth Sean Payton. He sucks as a person and he's a good coach, it's okay to admit it.
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Right because body cameras, sunglass cameras, and watch cameras don't exist. The only option is not to allow fans at practice at all, which it something the fans don't want.
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Except for the fact that the opponent can do the same thing and get there first. Then when you find then, what do you even do about it? Even if you could get them pulled, they would still be online while you waited for Twitter to get to your claim, which you probably rightfully don't even have because it was just someone filming their own personal…
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You still need to open thousands and thousands of possible results to check them. Then, when you do find them, what do you actually do about it? Even if you got every single possible video pulled, you would still need to hope that the opponents web guy didn't get to them first.
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Is Payton dumb enough to not have his own crew scouring Twitter for clips of opponents practices? The Titans are (dumb enough), no doubt about that.
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Teams will eventually create their own TSA-like entity to prevent fans from recording practice. But grass fields are too expensive.
- Sep 22
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I think it's the one that was a pill addict and took Vicodin the was stolen from the team trainers
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breaking explicit rules which ones? you should call the NFL and let them know because they cited exactly zero rules broken when they dished out the punishments. it was a general "conduct detrimental to the league" offense.
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Broncos coach Sean Payton privately accused the Seahawks of cheating during the 2024 season, starting a “Cold War” of sorts in which Seattle threatened a lawsuit, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald revealed in a recent interview with Graham Bensinger.