For the past month, the New England Patriots have been the subject of heightened attention in the wake of the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini scandal.
Photos emerged of the two appearing to see each other romantically, prompting Russini to step down from her role as an NFL insider for The Athletic while the NFL declined to investigate Vrabel.
TOP NEWS
After his head coach publicly addressed the scandal, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye spoke to reporters about the situation.
“We’re here for coach, we love coach and what he does for us, and has done for us this past year. You can’t speak it into words, and thankfully, he’s our head coach,” Maye told WHDH-TV in Boston.
“We know he’s dealing with some stuff off the field and out of the coaching world, but we’re here for him and I know he’s gonna come back.”
The photos in question were published by The New York Post’s Page Six and appeared to show Vrabel and Russini hugging and embracing at an adults-only resort in Arizona. Both of them are separately married.
Since then, numerous other photos have emerged, including images that appear to show the two kissing in a bar back in 2020.
Both of them initially laughed off the first batch of photos as a misrepresentation of a larger vacation with other people, but Russini stepped down after The Athletic began investigating the relationship. She has since deleted most of her social media content.
After the new photos emerged, Vrabel publicly acknowledged the situation and took accountability, but did not make any specific admissions.
The NFL declined to investigate the situation, with league commissioner Roger Goodell calling it a “personal matter” at the NFL draft last week.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
