{"id":869385,"date":"2026-04-18T19:48:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T19:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/869385\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T19:48:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T19:48:31","slug":"fans-furious-over-nfls-mike-vrabel-dianna-russini-punishment-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/869385\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans Furious Over NFL\u2019s Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini Punishment Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"New\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel<\/p>\n

After days of speculation about whether or not New England Patriots<\/a> head coach Mike Vrabel would face any punishment for his role in the public cheating scandal involving former NFL reporter Dianna Russini, fans finally have their answer.<\/p>\n

Russini was being investigated by her former employer, The Athletic, before resigning on Tuesday after two years with the company.<\/p>\n

Amid questions about whether Vrabel would be subject to a similar investigation, ESPN\u2019s Ben Strauss reported on Friday that the NFL<\/a> doesn\u2019t plan to take any action against Vrabel.<\/p>\n

\u201cNFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league is not reviewing Vrabel\u2019s behavior as part of the league\u2019s personal conduct policy, which states players, coaches and executives are required to avoid \u2018conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League,\u2019\u201d Strauss reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cA spokesman for the Patriots did not respond to a question about whether it would review Vrabel\u2019s relationship with Russini.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans Fuming Over NFL\u2019s Vrabel Decision\"New<\/p>\n

GettyNew England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel will not be investigated by the NFL over the Dianna Russini scandal<\/p>\n

Once news that Vrabel wouldn\u2019t be investigated (and that the NFL couldn\u2019t even be bothered to look into the matter) broke, fans were up in arms.<\/p>\n

Several people flocked to social media to call out the NFL for sitting idly by and doing nothing while Russini\u2019s career flashed before her and Vrabel suffered no consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatriots and their owner just continue to get away with being the worst possible people,\u201d one fan wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake him resign like they did Jon Gruden,\u201d another exclaimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not even going to review it? Holy s\u2014, great look NFL,\u201d a third fan replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is f\u2014\u2014 wild! Mike needs to be accountable! I hope his team completely turns on him he is a giant turd!\u201d one user exclaimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo yeh. The woman in this loses her job. The man just carries on as if nothing happened. This isn\u2019t me defending that Russini didn\u2019t cross the line in her conduct. But the man faces no consequences. That\u2019s just not right,\u201d another user pointed out.<\/p>\n

\u201cStrange because what Vrabel did precisely was \u2018conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in\u2019 the NFL. So is the NFL\u2019s response,\u201d one fan remarked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait, the head coach of the New England Patriots (the dirtiest most dishonest team in the history of professional sports) will not be investigated by the league run by a man who is great friends with the owner (also a pervert and scum bag) of said team? No WAAYYYY!!!!!!\u201d quipped another fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cExpecting the NFL to self police themselves is incredibly naive. It\u2019s a business and everything they do is to protect the owners wealth,\u201d another user posted.<\/p>\n

More Details Emerge From Vrabel-Russini Scandal\"Dianna<\/p>\n

GettyDianna Russini resigned from The Athletic<\/p>\n

Strauss also dropped some new information in his report that wasn\u2019t known previously.<\/p>\n

He reported that Russini consulted with a crisis communicator once Page Six published the photos of her and Vrabel together. He also revealed Russini and Vrabel collaborated together on how to respond once the story broke.<\/p>\n

The Athletic, which initially supported Russini after the allegations went public, asked her to produce any sort of evidence to corroborate her story that she was at the hotel in Arizona for a girls trip and that Vrabel happened to be there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile The Athletic had been quick to rush to her defense ahead of the story, now executives asked for more evidence from Russini such as text messages about an airport pickup, screenshots of planning the trip or photos from a hike, the three people said,\u201d Strauss wrote. \u201cThey said Russini never provided sufficient evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though she resigned, The Athletic is continuing its investigation into the Russini-Vrabel incident, which was a clear violation of The Athletic\u2019s parent company the New York Times\u2019 ethics policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cRelationships with sources require sound judgment to prevent the fact or appearance of partiality\u2026 It is essential we preserve a detachment, free of any whiff of bias.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMichael Gallagher<\/a> Michael Gallagher is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. He has more than a decade of experience working for both local and national news outlets covering the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, college football, and MMA. His work has been featured in Newsweek, Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, Athlon Sports, The Hockey News, the Nashville Scene, SB Nation, and Yardbarker. More about Michael Gallagher<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Patriots\n\t\t<\/p>\n

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