Vrabel seeks counseling, then fronts family at engagement

Vrabel counseling – Mike Vrabel and his wife Jen put on a united front over the weekend as their son Tyler got engaged, just weeks after the New England Patriots coach said he sought counseling following the Dianna Russini affair scandal.

Mike Vrabel knew exactly where the cameras would land.

At the weekend, he and his wife Jen stepped out as happy as any couple could look—celebrating their son Tyler’s engagement. It came just weeks after Vrabel sought professional counseling tied to the Dianna Russini scandal, an episode that has dominated headlines since late March.

The timing was hard to miss. At the end of last month. Vrabel returned to the media for the first time since stepping away from the Patriots to get counseling. In that appearance. he declared his love for Jen and their two adult sons—Tyler and Carter—after confronting photos that surfaced showing him and Russini fraternizing at an adults-only resort in Arizona.

Vrabel had initially denied allegations that he was having an affair. But he later agreed to seek help, saying he wanted to become a “better person” after “difficult conversations with people I care about” in the wake of the scandal.

By the time he spoke again in New England. the message was focused on the standards he believes he should be held to. “I appreciate my family. I love Jen. I love the boys [Tyler and Carter]. I love my personal friends. ” Vrabel said when asked about his work-life balance after returning to New England.

After getting back to work, he was still trying to pick up the pieces at home. Over the weekend. Vrabel and Jen were seen presenting a united front as Tyler’s engagement party played out in the social feeds of the people closest to the couple. Tyler’s fiancée. Mariah Romano. posted photos on Instagram. with the third picture in her set showing Mike and Jen smiling alongside their soon-to-be daughter-in-law and their two sons.

Mariah’s caption read: “the most perfect engagement surrounded by the people I love most.”

The engagement details landed on the public radar in a context that hasn’t gone away since March. Rumors of an affair between Vrabel and NFL insider and sports journalist Dianna Russini began when the New York Post published photos showing them hugging and hanging out poolside at the Arizona resort. The Post followed with more images. including Vrabel and Russini enjoying breakfast together at the same resort. and pictures of them kissing at a New York bar. which were reportedly taken in March of 2020.

Russini and her husband, Shake Shack executive Kevin Goldschmidt, were married in September 2020. Vrabel has been married to Jen since 1999.

Other photo reports kept the story moving: the Daily Mail published images of Vrabel with Russini at a Biloxi. Mississippi. casino in January 2024. It also published photos of Vrabel with a pregnant Russini renting a boat on a Tennessee lake three years earlier. when he was coaching the Titans and she was reporting for ESPN.

Before the first round of the NFL Draft, Vrabel stopped short of confessing to an affair—but he did admit that his actions had caused damage. He acknowledged what his choices meant for the people he says he cares about most.

“The distraction to the people that I care most about, my family, this football team, the organization and our fans,” Vrabel said. “My previous actions don’t meet the standard that I hold myself to.”

He also explained that his priority was for things to change in a tangible way, not just in words. “What I believe is best for the two most important things in my life. my family and this football team. is for us to take the necessary steps to work together and to give them what I told them I’d give them. which the best version of me. and that’s what we’re going to do.”.

Vrabel stepped away from the team during the third day of the Draft to attend a counseling session. He said he was going to prioritize his family over his job going forward.

“My priorities are my family and this football team – and in that order – and there’s a balance there that I am going to create. My family needs me this weekend and that’s where I’ll be.”

Now, the weekend celebration for Tyler’s engagement has offered the public the closest thing to a snapshot of what Vrabel and Jen want people to see: together, smiling, and moving forward—after the public fallout and the counseling that came in the middle of the football calendar.

Mike Vrabel Jen Vrabel Tyler Vrabel Carter Vrabel Dianna Russini New England Patriots counseling NFL scandal engagement Mariah Romano Arizona resort