Robert Griffin III certainly isn’t the first NFL analyst to comment about the still-unraveling scandal involving the relationship between New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and longtime reporter Dianna Russini.
Griffin, a veteran of eight NFL seasons who currently works as a game analyst for FOX Sports, might just be the most prominent voice to call out what he believes is a lack of media coverage around the scandal.
“This Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel story is getting crazier and crazier,” Griffin wrote on X on April 28. “Everyday it’s something new. Why isn’t it being covered with the same vigor as Ime Udoka or Sherrone Moore by the media? Heck even Klay Thompson and Meg the Stallion are getting no holds barred coverage.”
MORE: Patriots’ Mike Vrabel breaks silence on Dianna Russini photo scandal
Russini and Vrabel, who are married to other people, first came under fire when the New York Post published photos of the two in and around a pool at a secluded Arizona resort. At first, both parties downplayed the nature of their relationship as depicted in the photos, but their public comments became increasingly difficult to defend as new evidence emerged.
Russini resigned from her job as a national reporter with The Athletic. She deleted her popular X account and hasn’t commented since submitting her resignation.
In a stunning “coincidence,” Russini was reported to have rescued a man and his dog from a crashed Jeep — a story reported by the same outlet (the New York Post) that published the original photos of Russini and Vrabel in Arizona — the same week she resigned and reportedly hired a PR firm to handle the crisis response on her behalf.
For his part, Vrabel admitted his “previous actions don’t meet the standards that I hold myself to” and took time away from the Patriots in the middle of the NFL Draft to seek counseling.
Meanwhile, new candid photos surfaced of the pair in public, some dating as far back as March 2020.
MORE: USA Today fires NFL reporter Crissy Froyd after Dianna Russini rant
It’s fair for Griffin to point out where coverage of this string events has been lacking. In a fractured media environment where stories appear constantly across a variety of outlets, it’s difficult to attain a 360-degree view of the coverage of any one story.
The Athletic, for example, has been conspicuously if not understandably silent about Russini and Vrabel’s relationship since she resigned. Their top media reporter, who’s broken a number of stories concerning other media personalities, didn’t even comment on Russini in a recent podcast appearance discussing a number of NFL Draft topics.
For all its on-air silence, ESPN also published perhaps the most thorough accounting of how the scandal unfolded. The network can’t be accused of “covering up” for a former employee.
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Even outlets like Pro Football Talk, which haven’t employed Vrabel or Russini, have appeared to squash some of the more unsavory behind-the-scenes gossip about the pair.
Griffin’s comments, while not unfounded, exposes two rifts.
One exists between those in NFL industry and media circles who knew about Vrabel and Russini’s relationship before the original photos surfaced. Count Griffin among those who at least appear genuinely surprised by the constant revelations.
The other rift exists between those who make the time to gobble up every last bit of content around a topic, and those who don’t. It’s entirely possible Griffin missed the Barstool dialogue, the ESPN.com story, the Daily Mail update, and the countless bits of Vrassini gossip that dropped in between. Even Griffin’s own employer, Fox, has covered the story thoroughly.
It’s hard for Griffin, or anyone, to keep up with all of this. But it’s somewhat irresponsible for a person in his position as a national television analyst to make unfalsifiable claims about a story that relates directly to his domain of expertise. Griffin is a prominent voice in NFL media, and has been for years.
The only way the Griffin-Russini story reaches a fever pitch is if the media takes a no-holds-barred coverage approach in the first place. Maybe it isn’t the media Griffin is consuming — but that isn’t the fault of Page Six, or Ben Strauss, or Fox Sports.