Overview
- A short clip of Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald recounting the 2024 episode circulated widely on Tuesday after appearing from a Graham Bensinger interview.
- Macdonald said Seattle collected about 100 plays from Broncos training‑camp videos that fans posted online and used them to scout Denver before their 2024 opener.
- Macdonald said Broncos coach Sean Payton angrily contacted Seahawks GM John Schneider and threatened to publicly frame the episode as a Spygate‑style cheating scandal, which Seattle countered by threatening legal action.
- The Seahawks said the exchange was 'more off than on' the record and that the team was blindsided by the clip; Macdonald apologized to Payton on Wednesday and Payton said, 'He and I are good.'
- The episode has sharpened debate about hot‑mic and off‑the‑record standards, reinforced stricter no‑video training‑camp rules around the league, and added a media subplot to the teams' Oct. 15 meeting.