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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.

newest coverage 3h agosummary written 1d ago66 pieces44 likes & upvotes NewswiresRedditMastodonGoogle NewsX

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 MacdonaldMike Macdonald Seahawks head coachSean PaytonSean Payton Broncos head coachJohn Schneider Seahawks general managerGraham Bensinger Interviewer

Macdonald reveals Payton threatened Spygate accusation over fan videos
Yahoo Sports

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 9 pieces in one hour at Sep 22, 1 PM; 66 pieces over 39 hours (51 articles · 6 posts · 9 comments) Sep 22, 11 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Reddit 1Sep 22, 12 PM — 5 pieces · 5 articles — Newswires 5Sep 22, 1 PM — 9 pieces · 8 articles · 1 post — Google News 7, Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Sep 22, 2 PM — 3 pieces · 2 articles · 1 comment — Newswires 2, Reddit 1Sep 22, 3 PM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Sep 22, 4 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Newswires 2Sep 22, 5 PM — 1 piece · 1 comment — Reddit 1Sep 22, 6 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Newswires 2Sep 22, 7 PM — 3 pieces · 3 articles — Newswires 3Sep 22, 8 PM — quietSep 22, 9 PM — quietSep 22, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 3 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — 2 pieces · 2 comments — Reddit 2Yesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — 5 pieces · 2 articles · 3 comments — Reddit 3, Newswires 2Yesterday, 9 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Google News 2Yesterday, 11 AM — 2 pieces · 1 post · 1 comment — Reddit 2Yesterday, 12 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Yesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — 3 pieces · 2 articles · 1 post — Newswires 2, X 1Yesterday, 3 PM — 6 pieces · 6 articles — Newswires 4, Google News 2Yesterday, 4 PM — 7 pieces · 6 articles · 1 post — Newswires 5, Google News 1, Reddit 1Yesterday, 5 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Yesterday, 6 PM — 3 pieces · 2 articles · 1 comment — Newswires 2, Reddit 1Yesterday, 7 PM — 3 pieces · 3 articles — Newswires 2, Google News 1Yesterday, 8 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Yesterday, 9 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Newswires 2Yesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 12 AM — quietToday, 1 AM — quiet 1
4 PMyesterday8 AM4 PMnow · 2:58 AM ET
  1. 1

    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
    1. 13 outlets Mike Macdonald reveals Sean Payton accused Seahawks of a Spygate-like scandal

      first by Sporting News, 1d ago · also ESPN, Seahawks Wire, Yahoo Sports, Bleacher Report, Breitbart, Denver Post +6

      17 more headlines
    2. 6 outlets Mike Macdonald shared that Sean Payton threatened to accuse the Seahawks of spying

      first by Yahoo Sports, 1d ago · also NY Post, Awful Announcing, KOMO, Newsweek, Sporting News

      11 more headlines
    1 more claim →

    • 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

      @mikeklis9newsX11h ago44▲view on X ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 12 posts in this stretch

    • 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…

      Adept_Carpetr/nfl14h agoview on r/nfl ↗

    • 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

      USAToday@flipboard.comMastodon1d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  2. background

    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.

  3. background

    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.

  4. background

    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.

  5. background

    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.

  6. background

    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

  1. 2 outlets Seahawks coach apologizes to Payton for comments: 'Lesson learned'

    first by ESPN, 9h ago · also ESPN NFL

  2. 1 outlet Sean Payton accused Seahawks of 'Spygate' cheating, filming Broncos practice

    first by Yahoo Sports, 1d ago

    3 more headlines
  3. 1 outlet Mike Macdonald apologized to Sean Payton after hot mic story about cheating allegations

    first by Yahoo Sports, 11h ago

    2 more headlines

and 2 smaller pieces

What people are saying 9 voices from 2 sites · best of 12 · verbatim