For weeks now, the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini situation has been the biggest scandal of the NFL offseason.
And while we still don’t know if there was anything sexual going on between these two, it seems that for a couple of married people, they’ve been spending a LOT of time together.
We already know that Vrabel and Russini rented a boat together while she was pregnant with her first child, and now it looks as though they also put in an awkward appearance on Barstool Sports together.
The irreverent outlet was hosting a Family Feud-style remote game show during the pandemic, and Russini gave a response that seems even more cringe in retrospect.
“OK, Dianna, what is something you might close your eyes to do?” the former Athletic reporter was asked.
“When you have sex with your husband or wife,” Dianna replied, as the host pointed out that the questions were taken from the kids’ edition of Family Feud.
The clip resurfaced and went viral this week.
And for obvious reasons, Barstool founder and CEO Dave Portnoy, who is a Patriots fan, was not a fan of the footage.
“What the f–k is this clip! I disavow! There is no way this can be real,” he tweeted. “Can we just play some football! Hut hut! Blue 42! Blue 42! Hut! Hut!”
This is not the first time that Russini made remarks about her husband, Shake Shack exec Kevin Goldschmidt, that rubbed some folks the wrong way.
“I’m married to someone average. I don’t post a lot about him. If I was married to someone beautiful, I’d over-post too,” she said during an ESPN appearance in 2021, just months after she and Goldschidt tied the knot (via Page Six).
“So the guy’s got a heart of gold, and here I am on national TV killing him/ Look, we’re average together, but he makes me above average because he married me,” she continued, adding:
“I am so sorry, I need to really stop killing my husband on television. I’m going to be divorced by Christmas!”
Obviously, Russini was joking. But those jokes hit differently in the weeks since photos of Russini hugging and holding hands emerged (both parties are still married to other people).
“I’ve had some difficult conversations with people that I care about — my family, the organization, the coaches, the players,” the New England Patriots head coach said in a statement on the issue.
For her part, Russini resigned from her post at The Athletic shortly after the photos went public.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.