Though recent photos may have had some fooled, Mike Vrabel has been married for decades.
On Tuesday, April 7, photos surfaced of the New England Patriots’ coach sharing a hug, some hand holding, and pool side lounging with NFL reporter Dianna Russini, who like him is also married.
Both were quick to refute any salacious speculation about the photo, with the reporter’s employer The Athletic also supporting her. “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable,” Mike said in a statement to Page Six. “This doesn’t deserve any further response.”
Meanwhile Dianna, who is married to Shake Shack executive Kevin Goldschmidt, with whom she shares two kids, shared: “The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day,” adding: “Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.”
Scroll below for all we know about Mike’s family life.
Jen and Mike’s love story
Jen and Mike are college sweethearts. They both attended Ohio State University, where Jen studied dental hygiene and played volleyball, graduating in 1998. The year prior, Mike had already been drafted to the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the 1997 draft.
© Getty ImagesAccording to a 2018 interview with The Tennessean, Jen was the first to notice Mike, in their freshman lecture class on time management, and that she “found him funny enough to ask the professor for his phone number,” and they “quickly became inseparable.”
They tied the knot a year after Jen’s graduation, in 1999. For their 25th anniversary in 2024, they celebrated with a 10-day vacation in Italy, during the Cleveland Browns’ bye-week that year.
© Getty ImagesThe couple has two sons
Jen and Mike first became parents a year after their wedding, when they welcomed son Tyler in June 2000. They expanded their family just one year later, welcoming son Carter in November 2001.
Mike, who at the time of his second son’s birth played for the New England Patriots, admitted two decades after Carter’s arrival that he missed the special moment. Speaking in a press conference when he joined the Tennessee Titans as their head coach, he first said: “It’s not easy supporting boys that love football and dads that coach and play football. They’ve been around the NFL locker room since they’ve been born.”
He then revealed: “I’m not proud to say this, but I’m just going to tell you about my wife. She gave birth to Carter, I missed it, I was at practice, she was in Ohio. He came early, he flipped, they had to take her. I showed up four hours late because I was playing football and she was having a baby.”
© Getty ImagesThe doting dad went on to maintain his gratitude and love for his wife, telling reporters: “I love her to death. She’s been through a lot and she understands this league. She challenged me to get into the NFL after spending some time at Ohio State.”
Tyler, after graduating from Boston College, where he played football, was on the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad, and is now assistant coach for his alma mater’s football team, while his younger brother played baseball at Wabash Valley College, and later at Volunteer State Community College.
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