As the Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini scandal continues to add more pages than a quarterback’s playbook, an NFL veteran has weighed in on the controversy— and he has a hot take.
Former Pro Bowl wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh saw the TMZ report on Wednesday, May 6, showing alleged visual evidence that the pair rented a boat while Russini, 43, was pregnant in 2021. Now, he’s thinking there could be more to the story.
“This wasn’t an affair. That’s his girlfriend, they were dating,” Houshmandzadeh, 48, said in an appearance on the “Speakeasy” YouTube show on Wednesday. “That’s a decision he made, and she also made.”
He further alleged that “it wouldn’t surprise me” if the baby “might” belong to Vrabel, 50.
The alleged boat rental happened one year after Russini married her husband, Kevin Goldschmidt. Vrabel has been married to his wife, Jen, since 1999.
Russini and Goldschmidt share two children. She was pregnant with her oldest when reports indicate she and Vrabel rented a private boat in Putnam County, Tennessee for two to three hours with no other passengers.
Us Weekly has reached out to contacts for Vrabel and Russini for comment.
T.J. Houshmandzadeh Aaron J. Thornton/WireImage
Over the past month, photos and reports of Vrabel and Russini’s alleged relationship have continued to surface, beginning with pictures published by Page Six on April 7 that showed them appearing to hold hands and embrace at an Arizona resort. Since then, photos have emerged of them seemingly kissing in a bar in 2020 and together at a casino in 2024.
Russini and Vrabel both downplayed the controversy at first, saying the photos were innocent. Russini, however, later resigned from her job at The Athletic amid an internal investigation into the scandal and Vrabel took time away from the team during the NFL Draft to seek counseling.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and NFL reporter Dianna Russini became the center of a media firestorm after photos surfaced showing the two holding hands and embracing at an Arizona resort. The images, published by Page Six on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, showed Vrabel and Russini at a boutique hotel in Sedona. According […]
Through it all, Vrabel has maintained the public support of his players, including quarterback Drake Maye, who called his coach a “great human being” just hours before news broke of the alleged boat rental.
“I mean, he’s our head coach,” Maye, 23, told the Associated Press on Wednesday following the Truist Championship Pro-Am in Charlotte. “I think he’s done a great job of talking to us and talking us through it. I’m just looking forward to getting back to work and getting ready.”
The quarterback added, “I know he’s got the right mindset … I love playing for him.”
