May 8, 2026 • 10 mins
Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington react to reports involving Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini, and the fallout surrounding the Patriots organization. With Robert Kraft reportedly backing Vrabel, Parker goes OFF—questioning the culture in New England and even tying it to Kraft’s Hall of Fame case.
Kelvin Washington takes a different angle, pointing out the human side of the situation and the awkward position Drake Maye finds himself in after being asked about his head coach.
Is this just another Patriots controversy—or something bigger about accountability, leadership, and perception in the NFL?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
There was a report about the Patriots, about your favorite
couple that we keep getting stories about.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
My goodness, it's like Dynasty or Dallas Dallas, all those stories.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Those were like those were nighttime soap ers, right, and
somebody always wound up going down the stairs, you know
what I mean, Like like like that was the whole
everybody will fall down the staircase.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
That's a big fit.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
But anyway, uh so the report, Rob g told us
what when it comes to their coach, Mike Rabele.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
You know, this is a big story. When the NBA
played on it, the NBA playoffs get pushed to the
back burner because this is the story that keeps on.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I think it's YouTube.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Y'all love this relations dripping out news.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
When you hear because when you hear stuff seriously, and
I'm not Kevin, this isn't a one time slipped, you
know what I mean? Like you caught me up about
some sort of moment me and my wife was going through,
you know what I mean, Rob, some theories I have
about this. Okay, this is bigger than that. And now
(01:04):
you gotta saw how much stuff was he given to
feeding her? How long was this going on? If you're
the Tennessee Titans. Was he the one leaking all the
information to her? If you're the Patriots, how much does
she know about an organization they're doing pillow talk?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
She must know everything that's going on at this point
all that time? Am I right not to mention? As
we talked about it a million times? That's why I
was shocked. The athletic was just like, oh, what.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
You mean, No big deal, dude, that would you want
to talk about a misstep by an executive. He's fortunate, yeah,
because that was when we said it. At the time.
I was shocked.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Stood tall at us, not just a quick statement like
we're gonna investigate, We'll do it. She's been great with us.
We're going to do a find out and do our working.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
No.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
They were like no, they were like no Ah. She said,
why y'all blowing it out of proportions?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Okay, With all that in mind, here's the update. Yesterday,
we touched on it briefly during the show. TMZ Sports
reported that six years ago, Russini and Rabel had signed
off for a boat rental. Privately, she was actually pregnant
during the time with her first child, and in fact,
earlier on Thursday, they had video evidence that shows the
two of them walking on the dock towards the boat.
(02:10):
She is super pregnant in that video. The reason why
this is a story now again today is for two reasons.
Number One, quarterback Drake May was asked about it during
a celebrity pro am golf tournament. Who was asked about
Vrabel in the situation, and how it's spilled over into
the locker room, so on and so forth. I'm sure
get to that. But number two, longtime NFL insider Jason
(02:32):
Lockinford has been covering the story, reported on Thursday that
despite all the controversy, all the salaciousness, all the headlines
surrounding their head coach Robert Kraft is in full support
of Mike Rabel, has no intention of putting him on
a sabbatical suspension, much less firing him. Mike Rabel going nowhere.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
No shocker that Mike Vrabel's not going anywhere from the Patriots.
It's not because this is what this organization is steeped in, cheating, deceitfulness,
low brow conniving. There's always something with this franchise, and.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Is this on.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
It's on the reason Robert Kraft is not in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame despite winning six championships as
an owner. Is exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Why.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Is what we're experiencing now with Mike Rabel It really is.
It speaks to the volume of where this franchise is
and what they value, which is not honesty. And that's
why he hasn't been rewarded. He won six championships as
an owner. He's been trying to get into the Pro
(03:55):
Football Hall of Fame for like over a decade and
they keep rejecting. What would be the reason why it
can't be because of football? Right, It's because of the
dirty dealing, backstabbing, cheating, unfaithful.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Stuff that's gone on.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Of course, he's going to back his coach, who didn't
slip up one time, but it decided that he was
going to have an ongoing affair allegedly with Diana Russini.
I'm just saying, and it is the Patriot way. That's
(04:39):
why Robert Kraft, I hope you never get in because
the idea that, oh, well, because it wasn't an employee here,
It's okay, I get it. If it was an employee,
probably be pressured by the league because the league and
the team would be held responsible. He would be able
(05:00):
to sue them. But I'm not surprised. This is right
up the alley. This is the Patriots m O. And
then Drake May of all people to stand up there.
You want to back your coach, Kelvin, I'm cool with it.
You want to say, hey, it's a difficult time and
(05:22):
I feel for my coll Did you see the quote
he's a great human being that he was cheating on
his wife and kids with somebody else's wife who has
kids as well. That's a great human being. You could
say and support them. Hey, going through a tough time,
and I'm gonna support my coach and I hope it
(05:44):
works out for the best of him and his family.
I'm not talking about that. He's a great human being,
a guy who's deceitful, who cheats on his family and
cheats on his family with a with a married woman,
destroying that family as well. Come on, man, come on,
it sounds ridiculous, It sounds ludicrous. It's crazy. Shoot.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
I mean, I don't have much to act. That was
broke it down with the soliloquy. I mean, really, it's
just much. It's a few things to just echo to
what you were saying. I mean, I think with Robert Kraft,
I think whether it be personally or how they've been
running the Patriots professionally, they've been there before. And what
I mean by that is we know they've had literal cheating,
(06:30):
both figuring me and literally scandals. Uh how you know,
from from the spy gates to the flake gatest and
every bottle. Rumors were that hearing Hernette has had a
lot of baggage, some things going on, they decided to
still draft them, and then even just other small little
things throughout the time. And then you add on his
own personal stuff, right, we know what happened, you know
(06:50):
in the the plaza, the mas size place that somehow
because for him to be an owner, that just went away.
But I think that's because the power and being a
billionaire being an owner, that just kind of came and went.
And so I think there's an element of him being like, hey,
I've been there before. I know what it's like to
have these kind of you know, sedious deeds you know,
out there and kind of put people knowing your business.
I've been there. Maybe he was there for him publicly,
(07:13):
I mean privately as a former player, you know, he
was there for me during my difficult time, shot me
a call, shot me at text, came and checked on me,
you know, as his former owner while he was a
coach obviously in Tennessee. And I think that might play role, right.
I have this personal relationship with this guy. He was
one of my players and he's been a friend of mine.
So I think that's friends sticking up for friends, organizations
sticking up for past players. And now you add into
(07:34):
it Drake May. I think the kid got put in
a tough spot. I totally hear what you're saying, but
I think him being so young, he's not like a
savvy veteran. I think he just you know, this is
why Rob I'm gonna take the bigger approach to this.
This is why coaches harp on gms, harp on organizations,
harp on no distractions, because Drake May is trying to
(07:55):
just play in a golf tournament. Here, I am just
trying to have a golf tournament and that question comes
to me. And if it were a coach, they would
bring this back to the team and what would they say. See,
this is why we don't want distractions. This is why
we don't want stuff like this happening because it distracts
the team. We got to answer questions blah blah blah blah.
But this is because Drake Maine is a young guy.
I think he doesn't know how to you know, I
(08:16):
don't know how to handle it. I'm just I don't know.
They run up with Mike's I love a coach, he's
a great guy, so I think that's That's not what
he's said. It's a great human being. But I'm saying
I think when he's a young guy in a position
where he I don't know how to handle this, Like
I'm not. Nobody has this on your They tell me
what to do when there's a blitz, they tell me
what to do when they're playing a Tampa too. I
don't know how to handle questions about you know. And
(08:37):
that my bigger point taking it more off of him
is this is why this is a scenario that Rabel
has now put his star quarterback in. Why I gotta
answer questions like this, and then people like Rob and
Kelvin have to even address how I answered it, you
know what I mean. If this didn't never happened, we
would be asking him how do you bounce back from
a Super Bowl loss. So that's why a coach showing
why there's supposed to be no these types of the distractions,
(09:00):
because now you have your star quarterback answering it where
people can now dissect his answer and kind of be
disappointed in his response. So this is a prime example
of why you're trying to keep these distractions limited and
limit them. So but again, I don't think there's any
surprise for me with Rob We you know, we talked
about it in real time. What's happened. Robert Craft's gonna
stick by one of his guys. Tried and true patriot,
(09:20):
been there, blood, sweat, tears, won championships, and now he's
back in the fold, got them to a Super Bowl
last season. And not to mention, Robert Kraft has his own,
you know, discretions. Absolutely I see him. He's gonna stand
by him. But that to to your larger point, there
seems to always be a cloud of something that don't
get the respect.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Organized That's why they don't get the respect. That's why
Bill Belichick didn't get it in the first ballot. That's
why Robert Kraft's not in the Hall of Fame. People
know what this organization is, and Mike Rabel's scandal is
so patriot like it fits, and then for them to
act like nothing happened. And for Robert Kraft, oh yeah, okay, hey.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
That's good.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
That's the guy you want leading your organization. But then again,
you're in charge of the organization, so it fit
There was a report about the Patriots, about your favorite
couple that we keep getting stories about.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
My goodness, it's like Dynasty or Dallas Dallas, all those stories.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Those were like those were nighttime soap ers, right, and
somebody always wound up going down the stairs, you know
what I mean, Like like like that was the whole
everybody will fall down the staircase.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
That's a big fit.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
But anyway, uh so the report, Rob g told us
what when it comes to their coach, Mike Rabele.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
You know, this is a big story. When the NBA
played on it, the NBA playoffs get pushed to the
back burner because this is the story that keeps on.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I think it's YouTube.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Y'all love this relations dripping out news.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
When you hear because when you hear stuff seriously, and
I'm not Kevin, this isn't a one time slipped, you
know what I mean? Like you caught me up about
some sort of moment me and my wife was going through,
you know what I mean, Rob, some theories I have
about this. Okay, this is bigger than that. And now
(01:04):
you gotta saw how much stuff was he given to
feeding her? How long was this going on? If you're
the Tennessee Titans. Was he the one leaking all the
information to her? If you're the Patriots, how much does
she know about an organization they're doing pillow talk?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
She must know everything that's going on at this point
all that time? Am I right not to mention? As
we talked about it a million times? That's why I
was shocked. The athletic was just like, oh, what.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
You mean, No big deal, dude, that would you want
to talk about a misstep by an executive. He's fortunate, yeah,
because that was when we said it. At the time.
I was shocked.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Stood tall at us, not just a quick statement like
we're gonna investigate, We'll do it. She's been great with us.
We're going to do a find out and do our working.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
No.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
They were like no, they were like no Ah. She said,
why y'all blowing it out of proportions?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Okay, With all that in mind, here's the update. Yesterday,
we touched on it briefly during the show. TMZ Sports
reported that six years ago, Russini and Rabel had signed
off for a boat rental. Privately, she was actually pregnant
during the time with her first child, and in fact,
earlier on Thursday, they had video evidence that shows the
two of them walking on the dock towards the boat.
(02:10):
She is super pregnant in that video. The reason why
this is a story now again today is for two reasons.
Number One, quarterback Drake May was asked about it during
a celebrity pro am golf tournament. Who was asked about
Vrabel in the situation, and how it's spilled over into
the locker room, so on and so forth. I'm sure
get to that. But number two, longtime NFL insider Jason
(02:32):
Lockinford has been covering the story, reported on Thursday that
despite all the controversy, all the salaciousness, all the headlines
surrounding their head coach Robert Kraft is in full support
of Mike Rabel, has no intention of putting him on
a sabbatical suspension, much less firing him. Mike Rabel going nowhere.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
No shocker that Mike Vrabel's not going anywhere from the Patriots.
It's not because this is what this organization is steeped in, cheating, deceitfulness,
low brow conniving. There's always something with this franchise, and.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Is this on.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
It's on the reason Robert Kraft is not in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame despite winning six championships as
an owner. Is exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Why.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Is what we're experiencing now with Mike Rabel It really is.
It speaks to the volume of where this franchise is
and what they value, which is not honesty. And that's
why he hasn't been rewarded. He won six championships as
an owner. He's been trying to get into the Pro
(03:55):
Football Hall of Fame for like over a decade and
they keep rejecting. What would be the reason why it
can't be because of football? Right, It's because of the
dirty dealing, backstabbing, cheating, unfaithful.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Stuff that's gone on.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Of course, he's going to back his coach, who didn't
slip up one time, but it decided that he was
going to have an ongoing affair allegedly with Diana Russini.
I'm just saying, and it is the Patriot way. That's
(04:39):
why Robert Kraft, I hope you never get in because
the idea that, oh, well, because it wasn't an employee here,
It's okay, I get it. If it was an employee,
probably be pressured by the league because the league and
the team would be held responsible. He would be able
(05:00):
to sue them. But I'm not surprised. This is right
up the alley. This is the Patriots m O. And
then Drake May of all people to stand up there.
You want to back your coach, Kelvin, I'm cool with it.
You want to say, hey, it's a difficult time and
(05:22):
I feel for my coll Did you see the quote
he's a great human being that he was cheating on
his wife and kids with somebody else's wife who has
kids as well. That's a great human being. You could
say and support them. Hey, going through a tough time,
and I'm gonna support my coach and I hope it
(05:44):
works out for the best of him and his family.
I'm not talking about that. He's a great human being,
a guy who's deceitful, who cheats on his family and
cheats on his family with a with a married woman,
destroying that family as well. Come on, man, come on,
it sounds ridiculous, It sounds ludicrous. It's crazy. Shoot.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
I mean, I don't have much to act. That was
broke it down with the soliloquy. I mean, really, it's
just much. It's a few things to just echo to
what you were saying. I mean, I think with Robert Kraft,
I think whether it be personally or how they've been
running the Patriots professionally, they've been there before. And what
I mean by that is we know they've had literal cheating,
(06:30):
both figuring me and literally scandals. Uh how you know,
from from the spy gates to the flake gatest and
every bottle. Rumors were that hearing Hernette has had a
lot of baggage, some things going on, they decided to
still draft them, and then even just other small little
things throughout the time. And then you add on his
own personal stuff, right, we know what happened, you know
(06:50):
in the the plaza, the mas size place that somehow
because for him to be an owner, that just went away.
But I think that's because the power and being a
billionaire being an owner, that just kind of came and went.
And so I think there's an element of him being like, hey,
I've been there before. I know what it's like to
have these kind of you know, sedious deeds you know,
out there and kind of put people knowing your business.
I've been there. Maybe he was there for him publicly,
(07:13):
I mean privately as a former player, you know, he
was there for me during my difficult time, shot me
a call, shot me at text, came and checked on me,
you know, as his former owner while he was a
coach obviously in Tennessee. And I think that might play role, right.
I have this personal relationship with this guy. He was
one of my players and he's been a friend of mine.
So I think that's friends sticking up for friends, organizations
sticking up for past players. And now you add into
(07:34):
it Drake May. I think the kid got put in
a tough spot. I totally hear what you're saying, but
I think him being so young, he's not like a
savvy veteran. I think he just you know, this is
why Rob I'm gonna take the bigger approach to this.
This is why coaches harp on gms, harp on organizations,
harp on no distractions, because Drake May is trying to
(07:55):
just play in a golf tournament. Here, I am just
trying to have a golf tournament and that question comes
to me. And if it were a coach, they would
bring this back to the team and what would they say. See,
this is why we don't want distractions. This is why
we don't want stuff like this happening because it distracts
the team. We got to answer questions blah blah blah blah.
But this is because Drake Maine is a young guy.
I think he doesn't know how to you know, I
(08:16):
don't know how to handle it. I'm just I don't know.
They run up with Mike's I love a coach, he's
a great guy, so I think that's That's not what
he's said. It's a great human being. But I'm saying
I think when he's a young guy in a position
where he I don't know how to handle this, Like
I'm not. Nobody has this on your They tell me
what to do when there's a blitz, they tell me
what to do when they're playing a Tampa too. I
don't know how to handle questions about you know. And
(08:37):
that my bigger point taking it more off of him
is this is why this is a scenario that Rabel
has now put his star quarterback in. Why I gotta
answer questions like this, and then people like Rob and
Kelvin have to even address how I answered it, you
know what I mean. If this didn't never happened, we
would be asking him how do you bounce back from
a Super Bowl loss. So that's why a coach showing
why there's supposed to be no these types of the distractions,
(09:00):
because now you have your star quarterback answering it where
people can now dissect his answer and kind of be
disappointed in his response. So this is a prime example
of why you're trying to keep these distractions limited and
limit them. So but again, I don't think there's any
surprise for me with Rob We you know, we talked
about it in real time. What's happened. Robert Craft's gonna
stick by one of his guys. Tried and true patriot,
(09:20):
been there, blood, sweat, tears, won championships, and now he's
back in the fold, got them to a Super Bowl
last season. And not to mention, Robert Kraft has his own,
you know, discretions. Absolutely I see him. He's gonna stand
by him. But that to to your larger point, there
seems to always be a cloud of something that don't
get the respect.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Organized That's why they don't get the respect. That's why
Bill Belichick didn't get it in the first ballot. That's
why Robert Kraft's not in the Hall of Fame. People
know what this organization is, and Mike Rabel's scandal is
so patriot like it fits, and then for them to
act like nothing happened. And for Robert Kraft, oh yeah, okay, hey.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
That's good.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
That's the guy you want leading your organization. But then again,
you're in charge of the organization, so it fit
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Rob Parker
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