The NFL schedule release is upon us and that means funny social media content from teams — and that could also be bad news for Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini.
Vrabel and Russini have been embroiled in a scandal after the New England Patriots head coach and former NFL reporter, both of whom are married, were caught having an affair.
How this ties into the NFL schedule release is that teams often make fun of their opponents in the midst of revealing their slates and that could mean Patriots opponents will have some Vrabel-Russini jokes up their sleeves.
While we anticipated the NFL making sure that did not happen, it turns out that will not be the case.
Instead, according to Michael McCarhty of Front Office Sports, the NFL is not policing what teams put in their videos and will allow Vrabel-Russini jokes.
“The league is not reviewing videos in advance,” McCarthy said. “Instead, clubs will continue to control the content of their memes and videos from start to finish. The young, aggressive, social media wags at all 32 clubs will be free to mock Vrabel and the Patriots if they wish.”
A source told Front Office Sports that while teams that poke fun at the scandal in their release content won’t get a call from the league, it’s not out of the question that the Patriots might give them a piece of their mind.
“This is the day when teams are licensed to poke fun at each other. The (Vrabel story) has become such a public matter that teams can take the shot. You may get a call from the Patriots. But the league is not going to get involved,” the source told FOS.
“The only time Park Avenue messages the teams is around labor, CBA, or the refs,” added the source. “If the Jets, Bills, or Chargers choose to ridicule Vrabel, that’s an issue between the teams. The league doesn’t need to mediate that.”
Mike Vrabel, Dianna Russini and schedule content craze
It has now become an annual tradition for teams to compete for the best schedule release content and, usually, the funnier, the better.
If a team wants to grab all of the attention this year, it’ll most definitely find a way to take a shot at the Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini controversy.
Major sports outlets even broaching the Russini-Vrabel subject have been few and far between, with ESPN’s Inside The NBA being the most notable one.
Rest assured, any NFL team that puts Russini and/or Vrabel in its schedule reveal video is going to be at or near the top of the list of best schedule release content once the dust settles on Thursday night.