Mike Vrabel goes viral again with wife at Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding, but this time it’s not his fault
After an NFL offseason was hijacked by the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini and its ties to Vrabel’s time as head coach of the Tennessee Titans, every public appearance is now under a microscope.
The Mike Vrabel and Diana Russini saga added another chapter Friday night, and nobody had the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding on the scandal’s bingo card.
The New England Patriots head coach and his wife Jenn Vrabel were headed to attend the massive wedding ceremony at Madison Square Garden, and a 15-second Page Six video clip of the couple getting into a black SUV sent the internet into a frenzy.
After an NFL offseason was hijacked by the Vrabel-Russini affair and its ties to Vrabel’s time as head coach of the Tennessee Titans, every public appearance is now under a microscope.
The video shows Vrabel walking a few steps ahead of his wife, climbing into the SUV without opening the door for her, and heading straight in.
At first, the optics are brutal. This is a man whose (at least) six-year affair with former Athletic NFL insider Russini became the biggest story in the NFL this spring. You’d think awareness would be at an all-time high for how you carry yourself in public, especially at an event where every tabloid camera in the country is rolling.
And yet, after watching the clip more than once, I think this situation is a whole lot of overreaction for people grabbing at low hanging fruit with the Vrabels.
Why Mike Vrabel actually gets into the car ahead of his wife
Three people total get into this SUV: Vrabel, his wife Jenn, and another woman.
Vrabel, all 6-foot-5 of him (closer to 300 pounds than 200 these days), went straight to the third row so neither woman in formal attire would have to climb back there. That’s it. That’s the whole thing.
Could he have walked closer to his wife as they are headed to see the world’s most famous couple tie the knot? Absolutely.
Is it a bad look given the circumstances of this offseason? Sure, it is.
But people looking for evidence of a terrible husband from a 15-second car entry are reaching. There is plenty of real ammunition from the last few months without manufacturing more.
The Vrabel-Russini circus is on break, but not over
The car clip is just noise. The actual Vrabel-Russini scandal remains open, and I expect it to come out of its hibernation as the Patriots and other NFL teams gear up for training camp later this month, the preseason, and the season itself.
Reminder: Vrabel’s Patriots open the entire NFL regular season with a rematch against the Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks Wednesday September 9.
I’ve written extensively about the timeline connecting Russini’s reporting to Vrabel’s coaching tenure where over four consecutive years the affair has ties to the biggest story of that particular Titans offseason.
The affair dates back to at least March 2020, when photos from a New York bar surfaced, potentially impacting the free agency of QB Tom Brady. June 2021 brought us the Julio Jones trade with the Atlanta Falcons (boat-gate on Center Hill Lake).
Russini’s inside information attempted to soften the blow of the A.J. Brown trade on draft night in April 2022, and the 2023 CJ Stroud draft night debacle where Russini’s report about the Titans’ interest in trading up may have allowed the Houston Texans to adjust their plans.
This past football season brought another layer when the Patriots were reportedly interested in an in-season trade for Brown while he was still with the Philadelphia Eagles. New England eventually acquired Brown on June 1 when the contract structure made the most financial sense for Philadelphia.
The bigger issue is that we still don’t have the results of The Athletic’s internal investigation into Russini’s reporting. The New York Times, the company that owns The Athletic, had its own issue with a mistake from a deep dive on Russini last week, where it incorrectly reported that Russini FaceTimed an NFL head coach (not Vrabel) to get out of a traffic ticket.
The Athletic’s own investigation could open up more details and layers. If tampering or journalistic misconduct is confirmed through that investigation, I’m curious if the fallout could still threaten Vrabel’s position in New England.