New England Patriots fans are standing by head coach Mike Vrabel and showered him with a round of applause and a standing ovation during a season ticket holder event.
The event, which took place on Tuesday night, came days after Vrabel returned from seeking therapy amid a scandal involving an alleged affair he was believed to have had over the course of many years with NFL insider Dianna Russini.
Vrabel joined the season ticket holders in a club section of Gillette Stadium for what appeared to be a panel discussion with Patriots media members.
After receiving a round of applause, former New England quarterback and current Boston sports radio host Scott Zolak stood up and urged the audience to join him in a standing ovation.
A majority of the room followed Zolak’s cue and rose to their feet to applaud the scandalized head coach.
It comes at a time where Vrabel’s future with the Patriots remains an ongoing question as the coach missed the third day of the NFL Draft to deal with his personal issues.
Mike Vrabel received a standing ovation from Patriots fans during a season-ticket event
Boston sports radio host Scott Zolak (R) encouraged fans to stand and applaud Vrabel (L)
This comes as Vrabel is dealing with the fallout from a scandal involving his alleged affair with NFL insider Dianna Russini which was rumored to take place over the course of multiple years
The scandal has become the hottest story in the NFL as Russini has stayed silent – even going so far as to delete her Twitter account on the night of the draft’s first round – and Vrabel has publicly admitted fault.
In an emotional press conference last week, he admitted he had been forced to have some ‘difficult conversations’ with his family about the Russini scandal.
But as a source told The Daily Mail, the New England coach also feels remorse over Russini’s situation after she quit her job at The Athletic.
‘Mike feels terrible on many levels, especially since Dianna’s career is pretty much over, and that blood is on his hands,’ the source said.
‘He feels terrible that he is responsible and that she may never be able to work again.’
They continued: ‘There happens to be so many emotions going through him right now that for whatever counseling he is taking part in will be a continued situation for the foreseeable future.
‘All of this is not going to be fixed overnight. He has to get on the right page with himself, and everyone involved, and that is easier said than done, and we are currently on the bottom of that mountain.
‘He has a lot of climbing to do to get to the top of the mountain and on level footing. He’s hoping that the saying time heals all wounds is true. He’s resting his beliefs on that right now and drowning himself in work.’
Multiple images of Vrabel and Russini having torrid public encounters have been released
Russini has since left her job at The Athletic and is trying hard to stay out of the public eye
Vrabel admitted he’s been forced to have ‘difficult conversations with people I care about’
The Patriots released a statement last week which supported Vrabel’s decision to ‘prioritize his family first, as well as his own well-being’ after agreeing to start counseling.
Despite this statement, team owner Robert Kraft is still considering potential replacements if the situation continues to worsen.
‘The Krafts are extremely loyal and have no intention of firing Mike, nor do they want to see him quit over all this drama,’ our insider explained.
‘But if these upcoming few months go haywire, and if they are put in a situation of no return, either with the team not doing well or the drama of Mike’s family issues taking over and forcing a decision on Mike’s coaching future, the one person that they would seek to replace him would be Mike Tomlin.’
If Tomlin doesn’t wish to return to coaching and sticks with his television gig on NBC, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels may be promoted to the top job, the source says.
‘But that is a situation that they don’t even want to consider after initial thoughts,’ the insider said.
‘The Krafts will ride it out with Mike Vrabel till the wheels fall off. They are very much interested in putting all of this in the rearview.’
