For almost two years, the feud between Mike Macdonald and Sean Payton stayed inside two front offices. On Tuesday, Macdonald took it public.
In a clip from his appearance on “In Depth With Graham Bensinger” that spread quickly across social media, the Seahawks coach said Payton threatened during the 2024 season to publicly accuse Seattle of cheating. Macdonald said the Seahawks answered by threatening to sue, and he compared the standoff that followed to “the Cold War.”Sources: ESPN, Sept. 22 · The Athletic via HeraldNet, Sept. 22
Payton had not responded publicly as of Tuesday evening.Source: Pro Football Network, Sept. 22
How it started
The teams opened the 2024 season at Lumen Field in Macdonald’s first game as an NFL head coach and Bo Nix’s first NFL start. Seattle won 26-20 and held Denver to 231 total yards.Source: ESPN, Sept. 22
Some of Seattle’s preparation came from Broncos fans. Macdonald told Bensinger the Seahawks gathered roughly 100 plays that fans had filmed at Denver’s training camp and posted to Twitter, then broke them down like any other film. In his view, footage fans had already put online was public knowledge.Source: ESPN, Sept. 22
According to Macdonald, Payton found out in the middle of the season and “lost it.” He said Payton called Seahawks general manager John Schneider and threatened to go public with an accusation modeled on the Patriots’ Spygate scandal. Macdonald said Denver suspected something closer to Michigan’s sign-stealing operation, possibly with a plant at Broncos practices.Sources: ESPN, Sept. 22 · The Athletic via HeraldNet, Sept. 22
That comparison pointed straight at Macdonald, who was Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2021. He had left for the Baltimore Ravens after that season, nearly two years before the Connor Stalions scandal broke in the fall of 2023.Source: The Athletic via HeraldNet, Sept. 22
Macdonald said Seattle hadn’t cheated, and the Seahawks told Payton they would sue him if he went public with the claim.Source: ESPN, Sept. 22
The standoff
Macdonald said Payton let it go after the 2024 season ended. Until then, he said, each coach kept threatening to hit the button, and neither one ever did.Sources: ESPN, Sept. 22 · The Athletic via HeraldNet, Sept. 22
The two met again at the Scouting Combine the following spring. Macdonald told Bensinger he was coming back from a run and stepping off an elevator at the Marriott in Indianapolis when Payton walked in. He said Payton greeted him with “Hey, Coach” and then “totally backed down in the moment.”Source: Mile High Huddle on SI, Sept. 22
That part of the story landed badly in Denver. Chad Jensen of Mile High Huddle, the Broncos site on SI, asked whether Macdonald had expected a fistfight and signed off with “Real classy, Coach.”Source: Mile High Huddle on SI, Sept. 22
The rulebook
No NFL rule stops a team from studying video that fans post publicly, and Seattle isn’t the only team doing it. Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said in early September that opponents were using fan footage from training camp to scout Miami.Source: Yahoo Sports, Sept. 22
Teams have started shutting it down anyway. ESPN reported that Seattle doesn’t allow fans to film plays at its camp under Macdonald. In Denver, the smaller camp crowds since 2025 have been barred from recording practice, and signs ask fans to protect the team’s plays. The Broncos have attributed the reduced capacity to construction on a new training facility.Sources: ESPN, Sept. 22 · The Athletic via HeraldNet, Sept. 22
Payton’s history
Payton knows better than most coaches what a league scandal costs. The NFL suspended him for the entire 2012 season over the Saints’ bounty program, a punishment he later called a sham.Source: CBS News
He has also started public fights before. In the summer of 2023, before he had coached a game in Denver, he told USA Today that Nathaniel Hackett’s staff had done one of the worst coaching jobs in NFL history, and he apologized days later. Last season, after Payton appeared to take a shot at the Giants following a comeback win over New York, his former quarterback Russell Wilson called him classless and brought up Bountygate.Sources: CBS Colorado · Sports Illustrated
Oct. 15
The Seahawks visit Denver for Thursday Night Football on Oct. 15. Seattle comes in as the defending champion after beating New England 29-13 in Super Bowl LX, while Denver’s 2025 season ended with a 10-7 loss to those same Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.Sources: DenverBroncos.com · 2025–26 NFL playoffs results
In the interview, Macdonald described Payton as “not my biggest fan.” After Tuesday, the postgame handshake in Denver will draw more attention than usual.Source: Yahoo Sports, Sept. 22
