The NFL considered multiple factors when scheduling its 2026 regular-season opener with the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, and in choosing the New England Patriots as an opponent, league executives insist the drama surrounding the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini scandal played no role in their choice.
So, yes, the league would have us believe that it didn’t seriously weigh the huge elephant in the room.
“Look, we’re focused on the game of football and the reach of the Super Bowl, and that alone is an incredible story,” NFL executive vice president Hans Schroeder said Friday during a league conference call.
Dianna Russini, left, and Mike Vrabel, right, are shown in a split composite image showing Russini with an ESPN microphone and Vrabel on the Titans bench wearing a headset. (Image images)
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Schroeder noted that the NFL failed to consider the long-running drama that has cast a shadow over the Patriots this offseason following the release of photos showing their head coach spending time with the former Athletic reporter holding hands and hugging on the roof of a private bungalow at a resort in Sedona, Arizona.
Those photos and others that followed ultimately led to Russini quitting his job, deleting all of his social media accounts, Vrabel being asked about it several times at press conferences and missing the final day of the draft in April to spend time with his family in Utah and receive “counseling.”
“How do we deliver the best game in the best window?” Schroeder said, summarizing the NFL’s thinking on setting a Super Bowl rematch as its opening game. “And in this case, I felt like the rematch was going to be the most exciting when you can start from the beginning.
“…We liked the idea of really celebrating the Seahawks, giving them a moment to start this year and celebrate their last year. And so we like the idea of opening on NBC on Wednesday, and really using it as an opportunity to celebrate the rematch, but celebrate Seattle specifically.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stands next to the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the Seattle Seahawks-New England Patriots game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on February 8, 2026. (Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
This, by the way, coincides with how the NFL has viewed the entire Vrabel-Russini scandal. The league said from the beginning that Vrabel was not subject to the Personal Conduct Policy as a result of the photos and rumors they created.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the NFL Draft that it was a club matter for the Patriots to handle.
But while the league refuses to get involved in any way (perhaps rightly so), other clubs aren’t looking the other way and neither are the fans.
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It should be noted that both the Los Angeles Chargers and Minnesota Vikings referenced the relationship between the coach and the former reporter in their schedule release videos Thursday night, and the Chargers received a lot of attention around the league for their move.
The Patriots themselves suffered a somewhat embarrassing moment on their own social media account when they posted a Mother’s Day greeting on Sunday.
Some fans in the responses to that post pointed out, often colorfully, the apparent disconnect between a team lifting up moms while their coach has perhaps emotionally hurt the mother of their children.
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And this is unlikely to stop.
The Patriots are past the draft and schedule release, and players are being asked their opinion of their coach in news conferences. It is also unlikely that Vrabel will be questioned further on the matter, assuming there are no new newsworthy photos or revelations.
But the Patriots will play preseason games and have nine road games in the regular season in 2026. Those will give opposing fans a chance to mock New England’s coach and, by extension, the team about the situation.
Unlike the NFL, opposing fans may not focus solely on football when they think of the Patriots.
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