Broadcast journalist Graham Bensinger built his “In Depth” interview series on getting NFL figures to open up in ways they rarely do elsewhere. This week, that same candor blew up into a controversy he didn’t see coming, forcing him to publicly walk back part of his own interview with Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald.
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The trouble stemmed from a story Macdonald told about Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, one that went viral days after Bensinger’s nearly two-hour sit-down with Macdonald hit YouTube.
“I told Coach that, in hindsight, I regretted allowing that exchange to be included and that it was my error in judgment,” Bensinger wrote in a public statement addressing the fallout.
The “dirty laundry” goes back to Week 1 of the 2024 season, which was also Macdonald’s first game as an NFL head coach. Seattle was preparing to face Payton’s Broncos, and Macdonald said the Seahawks had gathered around 100 plays from Denver’s training camp that fans had recorded and posted online. The team then used those clips to prepare for the opener.
“Fans watch, and fans will tape or post plays from training camp on Twitter,” Macdonald said. “So it’s public knowledge. We took like a hundred plays from their training camp, and we’re like scouting them.”
Payton eventually found out about the practice later that season, and according to Macdonald, he didn’t take it well. Payton reportedly called Seahawks general manager John Schneider directly, furious, and threatened to go public with accusations comparing the situation to the New England Patriots’ Spygate scandal. Spygate involved the Patriots illegally videotaping opponents’ signals.
Macdonald also said Payton compared Seattle’s scouting to the Michigan sign-stealing scandal, where former Wolverines staffer Connor Stalions was accused of recording opponents’ signals. Michigan football is a program Macdonald himself worked for as defensive coordinator in 2021.
“He got wind of it and he like, lost it,” Macdonald said. “It was like the Cold War. He was like, ‘I’m going to hit the button. I’m going to hit the button.’ ‘No, we’re going to hit the button.’ So none of us hit the button.”
The story was clearly meant to stay off the record. Macdonald addressed that directly during his Wednesday press conference in Seattle, confirming he’d called Payton personally to apologize once the clip started circulating.
“It’s something that I didn’t intend for public use,” Macdonald told reporters. “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.”
Macdonald added that the conversation with Payton afterward went smoothly, describing his rival as “awesome” about the whole situation, with the two set to face off again as opposing head coaches in Week 6.
Bensinger’s interview was published Monday, but the Macdonald-Payton exchange was later removed after the clip began circulating on social media. Bensinger said the full interview, including that exchange, had been sent to Seahawks PR five days before publication and that no concerns were raised at the time.
Once the clip started making the rounds on social media, Macdonald contacted Bensinger directly. Bensinger said he agreed to take that portion out right away, but by then, other outlets had already picked up the clip and shared it elsewhere.
ESPN’s Peter Schrager, addressing the fallout on Seattle sports radio, summed up the awkward position everyone involved found themselves in.
“I think he would look in the mirror and probably say, ‘I regret that being posted,'” Schrager said of Bensinger. “Obviously, it’s crushing for everyone because that’s the last thing Mike needs right now. Or Sean Payton.”
For Bensinger, the episode leaves an uncomfortable question hanging over his interview series going forward: whether NFL coaches and executives will still feel comfortable letting their guard down with him the way Macdonald clearly did.