Mike Macdonald apologizes to Sean Payton for viral story about cheating accusation he 'didn't intend for public use'

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters Wednesday that the viral story he shared about Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton accusing the Seahawks of cheating during the 2024 season wasn’t intended for public use.

style="text-align: left;">The 39-year-old Macdonald, now in his third season at the helm in Seattle, said he apologized to Payton for the Graham Bensinger interview clip.

style="text-align: left;">Macdonald also acknowledged that he’s “got to be better in that moment” and remember that he’s always responsible for his words, regardless of the situation.

#Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald says he called Broncos HC Sean Payton to apologize after his Spygate story went public (when it was meant to remain private):

“It’s a lesson learned. … I’m responsible for what I say.” https://t.co/8oT85eFIFEpic.twitter.com/Ud2B10xojP

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 23, 2026In the clip, which circulated widely across social media on Tuesday, Macdonald divulged how, long after the Seahawks defeated the Broncos 26-20 in Macdonald’s first-ever regular-season game as a head coach back in 2024, Payton “basically threatened to come out publicly and do a whole Patriot Spygate type of thing.”

style="text-align: left;">Payton eventually heard that Macdonald and his staff had gathered an assortment of Broncos plays Denver fans had recorded during training camp practice and posted to social media, Macdonald explained to Bensinger. Macdonald said that, since those videos were public, Seattle used them to its advantage, scouting every one of them before the season opener. That methodology isn’t unheard of in today’s NFL.

style="text-align: left;">Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley revealed earlier this month that, when he hired former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, he discovered that Patullo had “half” of Hafley’s pressures on tape from fans videoing Green Bay Packers training camp in the lead-up to the 2024 campaign, Hafley’s first as Packers defensive coordinator. Hafley noted he deployed a pressure in that season’s opener that he had never run, “and they knew it was coming,” and “[Patullo] said he saw that pressure on video.” The Eagles won that Week 1 game 34-29 in Brazil.

style="text-align: left;">As for Payton’s suspicions, Macdonald said the renowned offensive coach called Seahawks general manager John Schneider and, according to Macdonald, expressed that he “thought it was a Michigan thing where we had a plant and the whole thing.”

style="text-align: left;">Macdonald continued: “So we had to counter with him to say like, 'Hey, look, if you come out of this, we're going to sue you because it's not true.'“

style="text-align: left;">Payton ultimately let it go, Macdonald said.

style="text-align: left;">He then added: “It was like the Cold War. [Payton] was like, 'I'm going to hit the button. I'm going to hit the button.' 'No, we're going to hit the button.' So none of us hit the button.”

style="text-align: left;">That candid exchange between Macdonald and Bensinger took place on set where the rest of the interview apparently occurred; however, it seemed as though Macdonald was especially relaxed and informal in the way he was telling the tale. The clip’s camera angle was notably unorthodox as well, with the mic and lighting fixtures in view.

style="text-align: left;">When asked Wednesday if he thought he was simply shooting the breeze with Bensinger before the cameras were rolling, Macdonald said, “Yeah.”

“It's something that I didn't intend for public use,” Macdonald said earlier in his news conference, “but it just felt like it was the most appropriate thing to reach out to Sean and really just apologize to him for having that end up be public where it wasn't meant to.

style="text-align: left;">“It's something that [the Broncos] have to deal with in real time that wasn't really on their end. So that's really where you're like, crap. But it's a lesson learned.

style="text-align: left;">He went on: “Honestly, I got to be better in that moment for understanding like, look, I'm responsible for what I say really no matter the circumstance, whether you're mic'd up, whether you're not, whether you have a certain type of understanding. So I fell short in that moment. So it stings for me, frankly, but it's something that I'm definitely going to learn from. And just a good example that we just got to take responsibility for the things that we say.”

Macdonald conveyed that Payton was gracious in his response to the apology.

style="text-align: left;">“Sean was great,” Macdonald said. “I respect the heck out of him and his program, always have. He's a phenomenal football coach. It's been great to get to know him at the owners meetings the last couple years, and he was awesome.

style="text-align: left;">“So I know we're both looking forward to moving forward from it, but I really appreciate how he handled it.”

Payton: ‘He and I are good’Payton, a Super Bowl-winning coach like Macdonald, confirmed the two spoke Tuesday night.

style="text-align: left;">“He and I are good,” Payton said at his Wednesday news conference. “Lord knows, I've been in his position where you're talking about something ... and the story is three years ago. Now, I don't know Mike at that time really, but I know Schneides really well. And, so, I'm sure my initial call to John wasn't pleasant, but I would say this, in talking with him, it allowed us to figure out how to handle our training camp relative to just videos.

style="text-align: left;">“And I don't think anything was intentional by fans. You know what I mean? But at first, you're kind of thinking, man, how could? And then we did some research online of what was available, and that's kind of how we changed our policy.”

style="text-align: left;">So, in that way, the whole kerfuffle actually helped the Broncos “to some degree,” Payton said.

style="text-align: left;">A reporter inquired about if Payton initially thought the Seahawks taped their plays, not fans. He conceded he didn’t know.

style="text-align: left;">“So obviously I called shooting before I started looking. And I could only do that with John because, again, he's someone I'll have a beer with at the combine. I consider him a good friend. But it was eye-opening relative to just, alright, we got to be better in this area.”

style="text-align: left;">Payton went as far to say that Denver’s pulling for Macdonald’s Seahawks, “except for one game” (the teams will face off on “Thursday Night Football” in Week 6). After all, Seattle’s playing the AFC West this season, so it could hand the Broncos’ three division foes losses.

style="text-align: left;">“Like I said, the conversation last night was good,” Payton said, alluding to his talk with Macdonald. “I have a ton of respect for him, and that's it.”