The NFL will not investigate New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel following the publication of photographs showing him interacting with married NFL reporter Dianna Russini at a luxury resort in Arizona, a league spokesman said Saturday.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told ESPN and The Associated Press that the league is not reviewing Vrabel’s behavior under its personal conduct policy. The policy requires players, coaches and executives to avoid “conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League.”
The photographs, published April 7 by the New York Post’s Page Six column, showed Vrabel and Russini holding hands, hugging and spending time together poolside and in a hot tub at the adults-only Ambiente resort in Sedona. Both are married to other people. The images, taken March 28, sparked widespread speculation of an affair.
Vrabel and Russini denied any wrongdoing. “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable,” Vrabel told the Post. Russini said the photos lacked context and that she was there with a group of friends. She described the encounter as typical of how NFL journalists interact with sources outside of stadiums or formal settings.
According to people familiar with the matter, both Vrabel and Russini were given the opportunity to provide evidence — such as text messages, trip planning details or additional photographs — to support their accounts that the meeting occurred within a larger group of friends. Neither provided such evidence.
The images prompted an internal review at The Athletic, where Russini was a senior NFL reporter. The New York Times-owned outlet examined the nature of her relationship with Vrabel, her past coverage of the Patriots coach and whether she had been fully truthful about the meeting, according to people familiar with the inquiry. Russini was sidelined from reporting during the review and resigned from The Athletic on Tuesday.
The Athletic’s executive editor, Steven Ginsberg, initially defended the photos as “misleading” and lacking “essential context,” saying they depicted public interactions among a larger group.
Patriots officials have described Vrabel’s involvement in team operations as “business as usual” ahead of the NFL draft. A team spokesman did not respond to a request for comment Saturday on whether the franchise would conduct its own review.
Vrabel, 50, is in his second season as Patriots coach after leading the Tennessee Titans from 2018 to 2023. Russini, 43, had been one of the NFL’s most prominent reporters before the controversy.
The league’s decision closes the matter for Vrabel under NFL rules, even as the episode raised questions about potential conflicts of interest for reporters covering the league.
Flip the pages for the hot tub photos.
