Shannon Sharpe comes to defense of Mike Vrabel amid Dianna Russini saga

Mike Vrabel is under fire, but three-time Super Bowl champion Shannon Sharpe does not think it should cost him his job with the New England Patriots. The scrutiny started after Page Six ran the first photos of Vrabel and Dianna Russini embracing at an Arizona hotel.

More images followed showing Vrabel kissing Russini and spending time with her. Russini resigned from The Athletic before those additional photos came out. Vrabel reportedly entered counseling after the pictures surfaced and acknowledged having tough conversations with his family.

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The situation, which wasn’t as much of a surprise for other NFL head coaches, raised comparisons to other high-profile cases where coaches lost their jobs over inappropriate relationships.

The former NFL tight end addressed those comparisons during an episode of his podcast “Nightcap” after a listener brought up Ime Udoka, Mel Tucker and Sherrone Moore.

“Dianna Russini does not work for the Patriots. Mike Vrabel does not work for ESPN,” Sharpe said.

“It’s a moral issue. You got two married people, two married consenting people engaging. What are you firing Mike Vrabel for? What is it that he did, what law or code? Some colleges have ethics or codes. So what code did he break? He broke his vows. Like I said, that’s between him and his wife. That’s between him and God. They’re not the same. Just being honest, guys…I just don’t see the correlation.”