Super Bowl-winning coach reveals 'Cold War' with Broncos' Sean Payton over alleged spying | Matt Calkins

During a recent interview with Graham Bensinger, Macdonald revealed that he and his staff found around 100 plays that fans had posted on X after filming Broncos training-camp practices in 2024.And given that Macdonald's first game of that season was against Denver, he scouted those plays in order to gain an advantage.It worked.

Seattle came out with a 26-20 win in Russell Wilson's first game back at Lumen Field.Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald walks on the field after being doused following his team's win in the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb.8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif.

(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)But apparently Payton didn't take too kindly to the Seahawks coaches' scouting tactics.Macdonald told Bensinger that Payton found out about the plays they pulled from social media midway through the season and "lost his mind.""He called [Seahawks general manager John Schnedier] and basically threatened to come out publicly and do a whole Patriots Spygate type of thing," Macdonald said."And I'm sitting there like 'Oh my God, we didn't cheat!'"THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE.

DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!So why didn't Payton make it public? Because according to Macdonald, Schneider threatened to sue if he did.The result was what Macdonald described as a "Cold War" type standoff, with both teams keeping their fingers on the proverbial button without actually pressing it.After the season, Macdonald said he ran into Payton at his Indianapolis hotel during the week of the NFL Combine.

Preparing for confrontation, he instead got meekness, with Payton essentially acting like nothing had happened."I was kind of like over him, and he was just like, 'Hey coach,' and he totally backed down in that moment," Macdonald said."I was like, 'Oh, man.

That's great'."Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton speaks during a news conference following the AFC Championship Game between the Denver Broncos...