‘Why wouldn’t you use it?’: Jake calls the Seahawks’ use of fan-filmed training camp footage a savvy move, not a scandal

Jake Skorheim and fill-in co-host Greg Tomlin broke down the now-viral clip of Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald telling interviewer Graham Bensinger that Seattle compiled roughly 100 plays from fan-filmed Broncos training camp videos before their 2024 opener, and that Denver’s Sean Payton threatened to turn it into a Spygate-style scandal.

Macdonald has since confirmed the comments were not intended to be public and said he apologized to Payton directly.

“It was something I didn’t intend to come out for public use,” Macdonald said Wednesday. “Thought it was the most appropriate thing to reach out to Sean and really just apologize to him for having that be public when it wasn’t meant to. It’s a lesson learned. I gotta be better in that moment for understanding I’m responsible for what I say no matter the circumstance.”

Payton responded to the incident in a press conference Wednesday, noting he and Macdonald are on good terms and the Broncos organization has used the situation to reflect on its policies.

#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

Jake Skorheim, co-host of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, said the story is far from a cheating scandal, and that any team dumb enough to let fans post plays online only has itself to blame.

“I would be surprised if the Seahawks were the only ones who had ever done anything like this,” Jake said. “If people are posting all this stuff on social media, why wouldn’t you use it? It’s public.”

Macdonald appeared to think the cameras weren’t rolling

Fill-in host Greg Tomlin noted the unusual circumstances of the interview. Bensinger sat down with Macdonald at his home for his “In Depth” series, but the clip that went viral appears to have been captured from a single, distant camera angle and not the formal multi-camera setup used for the rest of the conversation.

“The only camera angle that exists between Graham Bensinger and Mike Macdonald is at a distance,” Greg said. “So it almost says to me that Mike Macdonald may have thought they were not being filmed for an officially sanctioned part of the interview.”

Jake agreed Macdonald sounded nothing like his usual guarded self.

“Listening to that, he sounds much more like he’s just having a back room conversation,” Jake said. “He does seem much more relaxed.”

In the clip, Macdonald tells Bensinger that before the Seahawks’ 2024 Week 1 game against Denver, his staff collected fan-shot videos of Broncos training camp plays posted on social media: “We took like 100 plays from their training camp. We’re like scouting them.”

When Payton found out midseason, Macdonald said, “He like lost it,” calling Seahawks General Manager John Schneider and threatening to go public with cheating accusations. Macdonald said the Seahawks countered by threatening to sue Payton, “because it’s not true.”

Greg: this doesn’t rise to a scandal

Greg walked through the NFL’s history of actual cheating scandals: Bountygate, Deflategate, Spygate, and said this doesn’t belong in the same conversation.

“I just don’t think this amounts to any type of scandal or ‘-gate’ ultimately, but it begs the question: what is public domain and what should teams be able to use?” Greg asked. “Is this just a savvy move on the part of the Seahawks coaching staff to say, ‘Hey, by the way, we have a treasure trove of footage that fans take during training camp, let’s study it to get an edge up on our opponent?’ Or does that cross over into the Bill Belichick-ification of winning football games that’s kind of shady? I don’t think it rises to that threshold.”

Jake said the real lesson here is for teams that let it happen.

“If an organization is dumb enough to let people come in during pre-season and film every single little thing that they do and then post those plays online, if they don’t foresee the outcome that some other team is going to also be following those fans and watching what plays you’re doing, then that’s a stupid tax,” Jake said. “You’re going to learn your lesson.”

Producer warns not to forget Payton’s past

Producer Mike Seibert pointed out that Payton, of all people, shouldn’t be throwing stones. Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 NFL season for his role in the Bountygate scandal, in which the New Orleans Saints ran a bounty program that paid players for hits that knocked opponents out of games.

“Let’s not let Sean Payton off the hook as being the ringleader of the Bountygate scandal,” Seibert said. “He was suspended for the entire 2012 season, which is much shadier than using fan-filmed footage to study your opponent. Don’t give me more reason to dislike this guy. A guy I already don’t like, that’s an actual scumbag.”

Greg predicts the end of phones at training camp

Greg said one clear consequence of the clip going viral is that NFL teams will now crack down on fan access during training camp.

“I think the 12s might be the first fan base to start doing this,” Greg said. “I think they’re going to confiscate phones outside of training camp, just like some artists make you do before concerts or going into movie screenings.”

He added that the Seahawks’ competitive advantage is now gone.

“Unfortunately, the leg up for the Seahawks in this regard will kind of be taken away in future seasons now that this clip is public,” Greg said.

Greg also noted the NFL’s unique structure makes these small edges enormous.

“Probably more than any other pro sports league, there’s more parity in the NFL than anywhere else,” Greg said. “The playing field is so level that any kind of edge you can exploit could be the difference between a championship and not making the playoffs, truly.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3