Only one team had the guts to go there? Lame.
NFL teams finally revealed their 2026 schedules yesterday, and has become tradition in recent years, the teams went all out with their schedule release videos.
The Tennessee Titans once again had the best schedule release video of the 32 teams, hitting up Broadway in downtown Nashville to find doppelgangers for players, coaches and execs from their opponents:
The Los Angeles Chargers have also made a name for themselves the past couple years with their killer videos, this year using the popular video game Halo to unveil their schedule:
One thing the Chargers have also done well in their schedule videos is incorporating timely jokes about their future opponents, like back in 2025 when they included Morgan Wallen’s infamous chair incident while poking fun at the Titans. So it’s no surprise that the Chargers were the only team to take the opportunity to poke fun at the ongoing scandal surrounding New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
I was wondering if any teams would actually go there, even after the NFL reportedly gave teams free rein to joke about it if they wanted to. And it seems that the Chargers weren’t afraid and decided to poke fun at (apparent) lovebirds.
The video from the Chargers featured a sign that says “Next Photo Dump: 1 Mile,” a reference to the photos of the relationship between Vrabel and Russini that seem to somehow just keep leaking. And they also included a pop-up message that says “NY Post sent you a message,” a tip of the cap to the New York Post breaking the scandal with photos of Vrabel and Russini holding hands at an adults-only resort in Arizona back in April.
There have also been edited photos going around showing an apparent shot at Vrabel in the Minnesota Vikings video, but unfortunately those are edited and don’t appear in the video.
Unfortunately the other 16 teams on the Patriots’ schedule declined to include the scandal in their video, but that may be smart since they’ll be facing Vrabel in the fall.
I have a feeling that the scandal isn’t going away anytime soon. Sincet the photos first leaked of the married coach holding hand with the also-married (but not to each other) reporter, there’s been a steady stream of photos released and clips resurfacing, including one of the two kissing at a bar all the way back in 2020. Most recently, though, it was reported that the two rented a private boat together in Tennessee back in 2021, just months before Russini gave birth to her first son (who just happened to be named Michael too).
While Russini has laid low since resigning from The Athletic, Vrabel doesn’t really have that luxury as the Patriots prepare for next season. The coach addressed the scandal in a press conference back in April, admitting that he’s had some “difficult conversations” with his family since the photos were leaked.
He also missed day 3 of the NFL draft with the Patriots to attend counseling, but since then he’s been focused on football and hasn’t addressed the situation any further.
I’m sure he saw the jokes from the Chargers by now though, so we’ll have to wait and see if the Patriots prepare a little harder for that game this fall…
