The Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini photo scandal continues to send shockwaves across the NFL. According to a report by ESPN, several coaches and league executives admit the controversy has changed the way they interact with colleagues and reporters, fearing they could find themselves in similar situations.
To produce its report, ESPN interviewed league insiders, reporters, players and coaches, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, to assess the impact the controversy has had following the New England Patriots’ offseason.
After the Patriots reached the Super Bowl in Vrabel’s first season as head coach in Foxborough, Page Six published a series of photos in April showing him alongside Russini, then an NFL reporter for The Athletic, at an adults-only luxury resort.
“All the coaches are under surveillance right now, all the s–t with Vrabel,” one assistant coach from another NFL team told ESPN.
Another assistant coach, who is not part of the Patriots organization, admitted he has become much more cautious when interacting with female colleagues and reporters.
“It’s the insinuation; you gotta watch yourself because players, coaches, people are looking at you, like, ‘Are you in a relationship?'” he said.
“That is the trickle-down effect. Just imagine you’ve been working all day, 14, 16 hours, and you get to come home and your wife says, ‘Hey, did you see this?’… It creates the perception of, OK, this is what coaches are doing when we’re out of town or playing away games.”
According to ESPN, the Vrabel-Russini controversy became a major topic of discussion around several NFL franchises and was even used as a case study in crisis management.
One league executive revealed that his team’s front office reviewed the situation and discussed how it would respond if faced with a similar controversy.
ESPN also spoke with several female reporters from the network and other media outlets, who said the scandal has negatively affected their ability to do their jobs.
Read the full article here
