The Differences Between Vrabel and Russini are Stark
Fair or not, Dianna Russini has been ostracized to a similar degree as former Today host Matt Lauer. Russini, her husband, and kids have essentially spent the summer in hiding, spotted only twice publicly, since the NFL Insider resigned from The Athletic in April. For Patriots’ Head Coach Mike Vrabel, there have been significantly less consequences.
While appearing on First Take on Friday, Patriots Owner Robert Kraft was asked about the controversy of the offseason. “There’s been a little bit of a tumultuous offseason, we can call [it], for your head coach, Mike Vrabel.” Host Shae Cornette started. “What’s it been like navigating that during the offseason?”
“Well, we’re privileged to have Mike as our head coach,” Kraft said. “You know, no one is infallible. And what’s great about Mike is he has great intellectual knowledge about football, all the technical skills. He relates to the players beautifully. And he’s someone I have a strong belief and faith in. And I hope he’s going to be our head coach for many years to come.”
In other words, the Patriots will continue to stand behind Mike Vrabel. Russini’s former employer, The Athletic, have gone in a different direction.
Page Six’s initial report about the separately married, Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini cozying up in an adults only resort in Sedona, Arizona dropped in late April. In that report, The Athletic’s Executive Editor, Steven Ginsberg, characterized the images included as “misleading” and lacking essential context. Since then, The Athletic opened an investigation into Russini’s reporting, and their parent company, The New York Times, has published two articles on the alleged scandal, neither of which make the disgraced reporter look good.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, on the other hand, has stated the league will not look into Mike Vrabel. “This is not a personal conduct policy [issue], as of what we know today.” Goodell told ESPN in April. “It’s a personal matter, and we’ll leave it at that.”
Goodell went on to essentially move the responsibility to the Patriots. “I think the teams handle these matters, when they’re personal matters.” Goodell said. “They have a lot more information that can benefit everyone involved.”
The fact of the matter is that this is not solely a personal matter. An alleged affair between a head coach and an NFL Insider as prominent as Russini is a big deal. Tampering is the biggest concern. Russini had access to, essentially, every player and coach in the league. That access easily could have been used to benefit the Patriots (Or Titans when Vrabel was in Tennessee). A team talking directly to a player still signed with someone else is a clear violation of the league’s tampering policy. Sending someone who is supposed to be a neutral reporter to speak to players, coaches, or their representation is a lot harder for the league to detect. Still, something they should be looking into once brought to light as a possibility. Trusting the Patriots to look into their own potential tampering, is like asking drivers to look into their own speeding infractions.
“After taking a very in-depth look at my own driving behavior, I have found that not only am I not guilty of any wrong doing, at any point in time ever, but I just may be the safest driver in the history of the planet. I will not be taking questions at this time.”
Russini resigned shortly after The Athletic announced they’d be investigating her reporting. Russini’s resignation letter included the detail that her contract with The Athletic was set to expire at the end of June. By comparison, Mike Vrabel reportedly signed a multi-year contract with the Patriots in January of 2025, meaning he’s signed through at least the 2026 season, if not longer. Exact contract details are not known. If Vrabel’s contract were set to expire within months of the scandal coming to light, maybe he’d have considered resigning too, though that’s not very likely. The Patriots unwavering support of their head coach makes staying with his employer much more feasible than Russini staying with hers.
Having said that, when comparing the difference of response to Russini versus Vrabel, there are 2 important distinctions we’d be remiss to not mention.
Accountability
Both Russini and Vrabel blew off the initial query from Page Six. Russini said the photos from the resort didn’t include the larger group of six people, none of whom have come forward to date. Vrabel called insinuations of anything salacious “laughable.”
In her resignation letter, Russini doubled down, describing commenter speculation to be “unmoored from the facts.” In Vrabel’s first press conference following the scandal, he said “I take accountability for my actions and the actions that caused a distraction to the people that I care most about. My family, this football team, the organization, and the fans.”
And while I don’t think that just saying I take accountability is the same thing as actually taking accountability, at least Vrabel’s statement included a hint of wrongdoing, instead of an outright denial. There is a difference there.
Different Jobs
The job of an NFL Head Coach and the job of a journalist are inherently different. As a head coach, Vrabel’s job is to win. And not that they’re the only ones, but the job of the Patriots Head Coach is to win regardless of the cost. Cheating, lying, and stealing in pursuit of a championship is fine. Nobody etched “Spygate” on the side of the XXXVI Lombardi Trophy or “Deflategate” on the side of the XLIX one.
A journalist has a very different set of responsibilities. Journalists need public trust. Lying, cheating, and stealing are the fastest ways to break trust. Patriots fans don’t care if they can trust Vrabel to tell them the truth. Their franchise’s most decorated Head Coach, who Vrabel played for once upon a time, infamously never told the media, or fans, anything at all (You got that I’m referencing Bill Belichick, right?) When the fans can’t trust the things a journalist says, however, it’s a problem.
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The Athletic is still expected to release the findings of their investigation into Russini’s reporting at some point in time. Many expected that report to come out in July. The findings could leave some big questions for the NFL and for Mike Vrabel, especially if the Patriots and others used Russini to tamper with players of other teams. In the meantime, it appears Vrabel will continue to work consequence free.
-Written by Seattle Mike