The New England Patriots and head coach Mike Vrabel are intent on moving past an offseason dogged by an alleged cheating scandal between Vrabel and NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
If the Patriots’ first preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday is any indication, that task will be easier said than done — at least when it comes to the online and social media space.
Vrabel went viral after the Patriots tweeted a video on X of the coach vigorously tossing his red challenge flag on the field during the game; what would normally be an interesting moment to laugh at, though, quickly turned into social media users making viral jokes about the intimate past between Russini and Vrabel.
“Throwing the flag like he threw it in Russini,” X user @GhostofTroyMC replied to the Patriots video.
“How he threw Russini’s underwear out of his truck,” X user @C_HANN_ING added in a tweet that went viral.
“Mike Vrabel to his phone when his wife asks why Dominos is texting him at 3am in the morning,” X account @NFLMemes joked.
There were many more where that came from, but you get the point.
The scandal involving Vrabel and Russini, both of whom are married to separate individuals and have children, came to light on April 7. The New York Post obtained photos of the pair holding hands and embracing each other on March 28 at an adults-only resort in Sedona, Arizona.
They initially denied anything improper occurred, but Russini eventually resigned from her position at The Athletic on April 14 due to the controversy.
Then, on April 23, Page Six obtained photos of Vrabel and Russini kissing at a bar in New York in March 2020, according to witnesses present. At the time, Vrabel was the head coach of the Tennessee Titans and still married to his current wife, although Russini was not married.
Vrabel announced he would skip the third day of the NFL draft in late April to seek counseling.
“I’ve had some difficult conversations with people that I care about, with my family, the organization, the coaches, the players. Those have been positive and productive,” Vrabel told reporters on April 23 in his first in-person comments on the scandal, per CBS News.
“We believe that in order to be successful on and off the field you have to make good decisions. That includes me, that starts we me. We never want our actions to negatively affect the team. We never want to be the cause of a distraction.”
“I also know that I’m going to attack each day with humility and focus,” Vrabel added. “And what I can promise you is that my family, this organization, the team, the staff, the coaches, everybody, our fans most importantly will get the best version of me going forward.
“And that’s what I know. I’m excited to do that, but I wanted to just address this and thank you for dealing with a private and personal matter.”
Unfortunately for Vrabel, the internet never forgets, and the NFL games that count have not even started yet.
