Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald gave a tremendous interview to Graham Bensinger for Bensinger’s acclaimed In Depth series. The final version, which published to Bensinger’s YouTube channel on Monday, lasted nearly an hour and 45 minutes.
The most talked-about portion of the interview, however, is a story about Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton losing his cool over Macdonald using fan-taken videos of the Broncos’ training camp to scout the team ahead of their Week 1 matchup in 2024. “It was like the Cold War,” Macdonald said, in part.
The two-minute clip went viral Tuesday:
Mike MacDonald talking about a “behind the scenes cold war” between Sean Peyton’s Broncos and Mike’s Seahawks. It was over the use Twitter videos of the Broncos training camp reps by the Seahawks prior to their week 1 matchup in 2024.
( video from @GrahamBensinger ) pic.twitter.com/cRyX7WnZQt
— Nikko👾 (@LegionBoomerTN) September 22, 2026
Macdonald and the Seahawks presumed the exhange was “more off than on” the record, per Mike Florio. While Broncos and Seahawks fans ate up the story itself, Macdonald’s hot mic moment stirred up a conversation about journalistic ethics and what is fair game, on or off the record, among sports media types.
Bensinger spoke for himself by posting a statement on Wednesday night, as relayed below.
— Graham Bensinger (@GrahamBensinger) September 23, 2026
“Due to ongoing media requests for comment, I want to clarify the timeline surrounding a portion of our recent interview with Mike Macdonald that has received attention this week.
“The complete Mike Macdonald interview, including the conversation now at issue, was provided to Seahawks PR last Wednesday, Sept. 16 — five days before it was published on YouTube Monday. During that time, no concern was raised about the exchange, and we were never asked to remove it. For the last couple of years, our typical practice with long-form interview releases has been to include some of the pre-interview conversation.
“Coach Macdonald reached out to me directly yesterday morning expressing concern. I immediately told him we would remove that portion, and we did. Unfortunately, it had already been clipped from our interview by online outlets and circulated elsewhere. I told Coach, in hindsight, I regretted allowing that exchange to be included and that it was my error in judgment.
“I have tremendous respect for Coach. We spent significant time together in Seattle, and I came away impressed not only by what he has accomplished in such a short period of time, but by the person he is. The last thing I want is for one exchange to overshadow that story. I also have great respect for Sean Payton, whom I had the opportunity to profile previously.”
Earlier Wednesday, Macdonald addressed the clip during his usual press conference.
“It’s something that I didn’t intend for public use,” Macdonald told reporters in Seattle, later adding, “I’ve got to be better in that moment for understanding — 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. I fell short in that moment. It stings for me, frankly, but it’s something that I’m definitely gonna learn from. It’s just a good example that we’ve got to take responsibility for the things that we say.”
Macdonald disclosed that he had spoken directly to Payton and emphasized that he “respect[s] the heck out of him and his program.” Despite this hiccup (and their tiff in 2024), the respect is mutual.
#Broncos HC Sean Payton says he and #Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald are “good” and that the incident actually taught Denver how to better handle training camp with so many videos being made public by fans.
“It helped us to some degree. … The conversation last night was good.” https://t.co/6qiadnwHjZ pic.twitter.com/wwZMTSpwsS
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 23, 2026
“We spoke,” Payton said Wednesday at his usual media availability, noting “a ton of respect” for Macdonald and the Seahawks organization. “He and I are good. Lord knows I’ve been in his position where you’re talking about something.”
You win some, you lose some. On the football field, Macdonald and the Seahawks have won 12 straight games, including Super Bowl LX in February. If Seattle rides a 15-game winning streak into Denver on Oct. 15, Payton and the Broncos can settle the score.