Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton may have had good reason for being suspicious of the Seattle Seahawks in 2024.
After the Seahawks collected about 100 clips of plays from fans sharing training camp videos on Twitter/X in 2024, Broncos coach Sean Payton found out. During (rather, before) an interview with Graham Bensinger, Seattle coach Mike Macdonald recalled that an angry Payton called Seahawks general manager John Schneider and accused them of cheating.
"He basically like threatened to come out publicly, do it like a whole Patriot, Spygate type of thing … He thought it was a Michigan thing where we had a plant and the whole thing," Macdonald told Bensinger.
That "Michigan thing" was presumably a reference to the Wolverines' sign-stealing scandal.
As a Broncos Wire reader pointed out in an email, the connection could have been more than just a mention of another cheating story.
In 2023, Michigan fired then-co offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss after he was accused of computer access crimes. After that, Weiss worked as an "outside contractor" for the Seahawks in 2024, "with access to film," according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Weiss, who had previously worked with Macdonald with the Wolverines, ended his role with Seattle following the 2024 season. Earlier this year, Weiss was indicted by the United States Department of Justice on charges of unauthorized access to computers and aggravated identity theft.
Weiss also wasn't the only other former Michigan coach who was on Seattle's staff when the team compiled videos from Broncos practice (that were publicly shared by fans on social media). So it's not too surprising that Payton made mention of the Wolverines' scandals when he accused Seattle of cheating.
Denver has not allowed filming at practice in a long-standing policy, but they've been even stricter since 2024, with big signs and aggressive security that enforce a no video or photo policy at training camp. After learning of what the Seahawks did in 2024, perhaps Broncos fans will now be more willing to follow the no filming policy.
Denver's scheduled to hold its first practice of the week on Wednesday, and Payton will undoubtedly be asked about Macdonald's comment. Seattle's coach is also scheduled to speak after the Seahawks' practice on Wednesday.
Another note: Macdonald apparently did not intend for his Payton story to be consumed publicly. The Seahawks "didn’t even know that portion of the 'more off than on' the record discussion had been recorded until Tuesday morning," according to Florio and PFT. Bensinger originally uploaded the full Macdonald conversation — including the Payton remarks before the interview "officially" started — on YouTube early this morning, but it has since been edited to no longer include the pre-interview story about Payton. One can only assume Seattle (and perhaps Macdonald) aren't happy that what seemed to be a private conversation turned into a big story.
The Broncos will host the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football in Week 6 on Oct. 15.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Matt Weiss was a contractor for Seahawks when Sean Payton accused Seattle of cheating
