Everyone is ready to turn the page on the NFL offseason scandal that cost longtime insider Dianna Russini her job and became a massive distraction for New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel.
That may be most true for Patriots fans, who are ready to rally around the team after yet another Super Bowl appearance, the first since its Tom Brady-era dynasty came to an end.
One such Patriots fan, Kevin Wildes, happens to anchor FS1’s First Things First. And on Thursday while discussing New England’s chances this upcoming season and the team’s offseason improvements, dismissed the well-documented, long-running affair between Russini and Vrabel as a “hand-holding scandal.”
“Look we’ve had a handful of scandals off the field, a hand-holding scandal for example, that rocked the world,” Wildes said. “A hand-holding scandal. It was a scandal. The national media needed to stop them from holding hands.”
“The national media needed to stop the hand-holding!”
FS1’s Kevin Wildes (a noted Patriots diehard) has a new way of describing the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini scandal from the offseason 🏈 📺 pic.twitter.com/x4yETCfXEA
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 13, 2026
Wildes’ cohost, Nick Wright, correctly called out that no matter what one might think of the affair, Vrabel embarrassed the Patriots by being dishonest in his initial statement. When the first photos were released showing Vrabel and Russini together at an Arizona resort, Vrabel told the New York Post that “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable.”
Later, multiple outlets published further photos showing the two together as far back as 2020. Some of the photos showed them kissing. Vrabel then briefly stepped away from the team, during the NFL Draft no less, and announced that he would participate in counseling.
So while Vrabel skirted punishment from the Patriots or the NFL as Russini stepped down at The Athletic, the saga entailed far more than “hand-holding.” Wildes clearly used that phrasing in jest, but it also speaks to the fan base’s desire to move on from Vrabel’s impropriety faster than the media may allow.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is an Editorial Lead at Awful Announcing overseeing digital content and special projects. He lives in Phoenix and has covered sports media for Awful Announcing since 2023.