Something was going on between Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini, but T.J. Houshmandzadeh believes it was bigger than an affair.
It’s been exactly one month since Page Six published photos of Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini embracing each other at an adults-only hotel in Arizona. And while their initial reaction to the photos was an attempt at denying any implication of a romantic relationship, the story has since gained more layers than Stephen A. Smith’s infamous American cheese lasagna.
Vrabel is now undergoing occasional counseling and has admitted to having “difficult” conversations with his family, while Russini has since resigned from The Athletic amid an internal investigation into the relationship. More pictures of Vrabel and Russini spending time together and having secret meetings have been released, dating as far back as six years. And every time we think this story might be dying down, a new headline is published, leading Houshmandzadeh to believe that more layers will be revealed.
“That’s his girlfriend. Russini is his girlfriend. It’s not an affair, that’s his girlfriend,” Houshmandezadeh said on a recent episode of Emmanuel Acho’s Speakeasy. And as Acho chimed in with “allegedly,” Houshmandezadeh added, “No, that’s his girlfriend. This went from 2020 to 2026…that’s his girlfriend. They were dating that long. And that’s a decision he made, and she also made.”
The latest report from TMZ Sports states Vrabel and Russini rented a private boat in 2021 while she was six or seven months pregnant. As biology would have it, two months later, Russini gave birth to her son, Michael. Unfairly to her son, the name has garnered rampant speculation. TMZ hopefully put some of that to rest by recently reporting Russini chose the name Michael after her brother, not the Patriots’ head coach. But it’s unlikely to do much for Houshmandzadeh.
“So please explain to me, if you gave birth shortly thereafter, now I’m gonna say allegedly with this one,” Houshmandzadeh continued. “That might be his baby. That allegedly might be. But when you’re dating somebody this long, it wouldn’t surprise me. It wouldn’t surprise me if that’s his baby now.”
When someone finds their name in any sort of scandal, the instinct is to issue a denial, regardless of whether it’s true or not. But one month later, those denials from Vrabel and Russini might have been their biggest misstep in this story. Because if they admitted to having an ongoing relationship after Page Six published the first round of photos, the story would have garnered a lot of reaction, but it probably wouldn’t have built as many layers.
It’s the denials that encouraged this Houshmandzadeh-level of speculation and slow drip of evidence as various outlets sought to prove them wrong by digging deep into their relationship. But if Vrabel and Russini admitted their relationship from the start, the public probably wouldn’t still be clamoring for headlines about a playlist or boat rental weeks later.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com