Mike Macdonald, Graham Bensinger address controversial Sean Payton interview clip

On September 8, 2024, in Seattle, Washington, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald shook hands following a game where the Seahawks won 26-20. The incident that drew significant attention involved a clip from an almost two-hour interview where Macdonald revealed that Payton had accused the Seahawks of cheating, which was untrue.

In reality, the Seahawks had prepared for their 2024 opener against Denver by scouting plays filmed by Broncos fans at training camp. Macdonald stated that Payton threatened to sue if the accusation was made public, to which Payton eventually relented. Macdonald later apologized to Payton for the unintentional public release of the interview segment, acknowledging that he should have been more responsible with his words.

Macdonald also expressed regret for not being more cautious about what he said, whether he was on or off the record. Seattle Seahawks Public Relations confirmed that the portion of the interview in question was provided to them five days before it was publicly released, and they removed it immediately upon Macdonald's request. Despite the controversy, Payton maintained that he and Macdonald are good friends and that the incident taught Denver how to better handle training camp with many videos being made public by fans.