Patriots owner Robert Kraft has nothing but compassion for New England head coach Mike Vrabel in the wake of infidelity allegations.
Speaking at Fanatics Fest in Manhattan on Friday, the 85-year-old billionaire was asked about the upcoming NFL season months after Vrabel admitted to failing the team and his family, albeit without directly admitting to an affair.
‘Well, we’re privileged to have Mike as our head coach,’ Kraft said of the reigning NFL Coach of the Year. ‘You know, no one is infallible. And what’s great about Mike is he has great intellectual knowledge about football — all the technical skills. He relates to the players beautifully.
‘And he’s someone I have a strong belief and faith in. And I hope he’s going to be our head coach for many years to come.’
The controversy erupted in March when the New York Post published suggestive photos of Vrabel fraternizing with The Athletic’s Dianna Russini at a $2,500-a-night, adults-only retreat in Arizona.
While the married Russini has denied any wrongdoing and stood by her reporting on Vrabel, she was later placed on leave at The Athletic before ultimately submitting her resignation to the website’s parent company, The New York Times.
Billionaires Robert Kraft and Michael Rubin speak onstage during the First Take Live panel at Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 in Manhattan. Kraft addressed the Mike Vrabel scandal at the event
Coming off a Super Bowl berth, Mike Vrabel is the reigning NFL Coach of the Year
While Dianna Russini denied any misconduct, Vrabel vaguely admitted to failing his family
In April, the Post published pictures purportedly showing Vrabel and Russini kissing at a bar in Manhattan in March of 2020. Russini married Shake Shack executive Kevin Goldschmidt in September of that year and has since given birth to the couple’s two sons.
The Daily Mail also published photos of Vrabel and a pregnant Russini renting a boat on a Tennessee lake in 2021, when he was coaching the Titans and she was reporting on the team for ESPN.
Speaking before the first round of April’s NFL Draft, Vrabel stopped short of confessing to an affair. However, he did admit to causing ‘a distraction to the people that I care most about, my family, this football team, the organization and our fans.’
He would ultimately miss the third day of the draft to attend a family counseling session.
Earlier this month, Vrabel and his wife of 27 years were spotted in Manhattan, where they attended the highly publicized wedding of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce to pop star Taylor Swift.
Vrabel was spotted entering a chauffeured limousine ahead of his wife, Jen, which prompted some backlash online.
‘Not holding the car door for his wife he’s publicly cheating on is certainly a choice,’ one critic wrote on X in response to footage from the New York Post.
In 2019, Kraft was among 25 arrested in a prostitution sting in Florida. Ultimately an appeals court ruled that hidden-camera footage from the Orchids of Asia Spa was inadmissible
Of course, Kraft has faced his own public relations crisis.
Back in 2019, the widower was among 25 arrested in a prostitution sting in Florida. Ultimately an appeals court ruled that hidden-camera footage from the Orchids of Asia Spa was inadmissible in court due to privacy concerns. As a result, charges against Kraft were dropped, only not until after he issued a public apology for the arrest.
‘I am truly sorry,’ Kraft said in a 2019 statement. ‘I know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends, my co-workers, our fans and many others who rightfully hold me to a higher standard.’
Kraft has since married New York City-based ophthalmologist Dana Blumberg.
