Sports · American Football · 3 hrs ago
Seahawks threatened lawsuit over Broncos cheating accusation, Macdonald says
Seattle beat Denver 26-20 in Mike Macdonald’s first game as a head coach, opening the 2024 NFL season.
Before the game, Macdonald says, the Seahawks studied about 100 Broncos training-camp plays that fans had posted publicly on Twitter.
Denver coach Sean Payton suspected illegal scouting and threatened to take the matter to the NFL, Macdonald said.
Macdonald said Seattle had not sent anyone to Denver’s training camp, and the team threatened to sue Payton if he made the accusation public.
Payton eventually let the dispute go, and it did not become public at the time.
Denver now bans fans from filming its training-camp practices, a rule that reflects the sensitivity of practice footage around the NFL.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald says Seattle threatened to sue Sean Payton after the Broncos coach accused the team of cheating in 2024.
Macdonald said Seattle had used plays publicly posted on Twitter from Broncos training camp to scout Denver.
He said Payton believed Seattle may have planted someone at the Broncos’ camp, which would have been illegal.
Macdonald said Payton backed down and later let the matter go.
The Broncos prohibited fans from filming training camp practices by 2026, according to CBS Sports.
- Who
- Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald says Broncos coach Sean Payton accused Seattle of cheating.
- What
- The Seahawks threatened to sue Payton if he went public with the accusation or took it to the NFL.
- When
- After the teams’ 2024 season-opening game.
- Where
- The dispute concerned Seattle’s scouting of the Denver Broncos.
- Why
- Seattle used plays from Broncos training camp that fans had posted on Twitter; Payton suspected the team had sent a person to the camp.
Seattle Seahawks
Denver Broncos
Scouting method
Seattle Seahawks
Macdonald said Seattle used publicly posted training-camp plays from Twitter.
Denver Broncos
Payton suspected Seattle had placed someone at Broncos training camp, according to Macdonald.
Cheating accusation
Seattle Seahawks
Macdonald said the Seahawks did not cheat and threatened to sue if Payton went public.
Denver Broncos
Payton was upset and threatened to take the matter to the NFL, Macdonald said.
Macdonald led Seattle to a 26-20 road win over Denver.
Payton learned about Seattle’s use of training-camp plays from Twitter and threatened to take the matter to the NFL, Macdonald said.
Macdonald said the Seahawks threatened to sue Payton, who then backed down.
Payton let the matter go, Macdonald said.
The Broncos posted signs warning fans they could be ejected for excessively breaking filming rules.
- Game score
- Seattle 26, Denver 20
- Game location
- Denver
- Scouting material
- About 100 plays posted on Twitter from Broncos training camp
- Seattle coach
- Mike Macdonald
- Broncos coach
- Sean Payton
- Training camp rule
- By 2026, fans were prohibited from filming Broncos practices
2 sources
What people are saying
Fans will tape and post plays from training camp on Twitter, so it's public knowledge, so we took like a 100 plays from their training camp
Oh my God, we didn't cheat.
Hey, look, if you come out at us, we're going to sue you, because it's not true
So he backed down, but he was killing John, our GM.