Former NFL tight end and sports broadcasting personality Shannon Sharpe does not believe Mike Vrabel’s head coaching job with the New England Patriots should be endangered by the scandal involving reporter Dianna Russini.
“Dianna Russini does not work for the Patriots. Mike Vrabel does not work for ESPN,” Sharpe, 57, said on the Monday, April 27 episode of his “Nightcap” podcast. “Now, in some situations, they have it, you can’t do that with an employee. If you’re a coach, you can’t mess with another employee or subordinate…Dianna Russini has to take that up with her husband, and Mike Vrabel is gonna have to take that up with his wife.”
Vrabel, 50, remains under heavy scrutiny as photos spanning six years have emerged showing him and Russini, 43, the former NFL insider for The Athletic, holding hands, kissing and hugging. Both are married to other people.
“It’s a moral issue,” Sharpe continued. “You got two married people, two married consenting people engaging. What are you firing Mike Vrabel for? What is it that he did? What law or code? Some colleges have ethics or codes. So what code did he break? He broke his vows. Like I said, that’s between him and his wife. That’s between him and God. They’re not the same. Just being honest, guys…I just don’t see the correlation.”
Page Six released the first photos earlier this month, showing Vrabel and Russini together at a resort in Arizona. Vrabel called it “laughable” that anyone would say the photos were not “completely innocent.”
As more photos emerged, he changed his tune, admitting during a press conference before the NFL Draft that he initially downplayed the controversy to protect his family. He was away from the team for the final day of the draft as he sought counseling related to the scandal.
The NFL has already announced it will not punish Vrabel under the league’s personal conduct policy and the Patriots organization has stood by him.
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“The New England Patriots fully support Mike Vrabel’s decision to prioritize his family first, as well as his own well-being,” the team said in a statement on Thursday, April 23. “Mike has been open with us about his commitment to being the best version of himself for his family, this team and our fans, and we respect the steps he is taking to follow through on that commitment.”
Russini, for her part, also called the photos innocent at first, insisting that there were others at the resort with them who were not pictured. She later resigned from The Athletic amid an internal investigation, standing by her “professionalism and dedication” as a reporter in her resignation letter.
“I stand behind every story I have ever published,” she wrote on April 14. “When the Page Six item first appeared, The Athletic supported me unequivocally, expressed confidence in my work and pride in my journalism. For that I am grateful. In the days that followed, unfortunately, commentators in various media have engaged in self-feeding speculation that is simply unmoored from the facts.”
