Despite Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini’s respective denials of any wrongdoing, photos of the New England Patriots head coach with The Athletic’s NFL insider at an adults-only resort in Arizona are conclusive to Dave Portnoy.
‘It’s pretty obvious what happened here, certainly salacious,’ the devout Patriots fan and Barstool Sports founder said on Wake Up Barstool.
Vrabel has kept a low profile since the New York Post published photos of him hugging, holding hands and laughing poolside with Russini at the $2,500-per night getaway in Sedona, Arizona.
Russini, meanwhile, has been placed on leave as The Athletic conducts an investigation into the circumstances of the New York Post photos as well as her own coverage, a person familiar with the inquiry told the Daily Mail last week. Spokespeople for the Times and The Athletic declined to comment to the Daily Mail about the situation.
But while Portnoy doesn’t expect Vrabel to suffer professionally for the photos, he strongly believes Russini should be protected from any fallout.
‘They’re both married with kids,’ the 47-year-old Portnoy said. ‘So, in that respect, very sad story.
Mike Vrabel (L) and Dianna Russini (R) are denying suggestions that they’re having an affair
‘Vrabel, this is totally a personal issue, right?’ he continued. ‘Like, if he’s cheating, not cheating, this doesn’t affect your job. This has nothing to do with your job as a football coach.’
Portnoy did admit that the math is a bit different for Russini, who works for a website owned by The New York Times, but insists her area of coverage isn’t important enough to warrant her dismissal.
‘They pretend to be some prestigious institution,’ the Trump-supporting Portnoy said of the Times. ‘I totally disagree with that. I think they’re rats, but I’m sure somewhere they say you cannot cross the line with your sources. You can’t become intimate because then maybe you treat them differently.
‘So maybe she crossed a work line, which will cause her to be terminated,’ he continued. ‘Now she’s not dealing with nuclear codes. She’s not dealing with politicians. It’s football. So should you lose your job for becoming intimate with a coach? I probably don’t think so.’
To be clear, the Post’s photos did not show Russini and Vrabel kissing or sharing a loving embrace but rather greeting and lounging together poolside. They’ve claimed in respective statements to have been traveling with other friends, while Vrabel called the Post’s report ‘laughable.’
The two visited a hotel, Ambiente, which is an adults-only venue near Sedona, Arizona
And prior to launching its own investigation into Russini, The Athletic dismissed the photos as ‘misleading’ while defending their reporter’s work and reputation.
Portnoy, however, wasn’t buying their pleas of innocence.
‘I think their excuses probably weren’t the best move from them from a PR perspective,’ said Portnoy.
‘This excuse that they both had, which is the same excuse that, ‘Hey, we’re with a group of people, and it’s not shown.’ It’s quite peculiar at this point that none of these supposed friends have stepped forward and said, ‘Yeah, we were with them. Here’s proof. We’re with them.’ So, I think it’s pretty obvious that maybe something beyond a friendship was happening here.’
While social media has fixated on Russini’s past coverage of Vrabel, as well as her occasional complaints about her husband, a greater mystery has emerged over the source of the photos.
Russini is pictured interviewing Vrabel in 2019, when he was coaching the Titans
And as others have suspected, Portnoy also believes Vrabel and Russini may have been set up.
‘Private Investigator was definitely involved,’ he said. ‘You just don’t get these photos randomly from far away, professional. So, somebody was out to get these two whether that was Vrabel’s side, whether it was the Russini side, but this looks like somebody knew something nefarious was happening and set out to get it, get the proof, get the information.’
In the meantime for Vrabel, plans for the draft are ongoing but he will not be facing media beforehand like he did last year. Instead, according to ESPN, Eliot Wolf will speak on behalf of the Patriots organization on Monday afternoon.