Pats head coach aka the team’s chief of “public affairs” Mike Vrabel is getting real good at changing the subject.
Vrabel walked up to the lectern at the start of Patriot summer training camp last week holding a puppy.
“Welcome everybody, good to see you guys,” the famous canoodler told a room filled with reporters.
Or alleged reporters.
Vrabel brought an orphaned pup to the news conference in what he said is his annual appeal in behalf of rescues needing homes.
But as he promoted what’s known as the Pawtriots Pet Adoption program in behalf of Dana Blumberg, wife of the team’s owner, Vrabel also had an underlying mission – distracting the press from asking any more prying questions about his affair earlier this year with an NFL reporter.
“Hey guys here’s a puppy for you to look at so you forget I cheated on my wife with a national reporter,” tweeted a critic known as “NYJ Matt.”
“New York Jet Matt” with nearly 46,000 followers on X was glad to take the air out of Mike’s balloon dog.
Someone had to – the fawning pansy ass reporters certainly aren’t interested in the married Vrabel’s tryst with the also-married Dianna Russini.
Blumberg’s husband, billionaire Pats owner Robert Kraft, recently gave Coach Mike a pass on the affair thingy, saying “no one’s infallible.”
So can’t hurt for Mike to suck up to the guy who decides whether he keeps his coach’s job by promoting Mr. Kraft’s wife’s pet cause…
University of Alabama sports writer Matt Stahl finds the image of Mike Vrabel standing at the podium with a puppy – and getting a free pass on any serious questions from the dog-lapping press, pathetic.
“Please tell me we’re not going to have an nfl coach herbstreiting a dog around all season because he’s in pr trouble,” Stahl tweeted. “We have to start being adults about this.”
“The biggest problem (and why it doesn’t work) is in Vrabel’s case, we all see through it,” said Cleveland Browns writer analyst Bill Sparks, “which then devalues the whole reason of having the puppy with you in the first place. Would’ve been better off just not doing the presser at all.”
“Using a dog as protection/a prop as you still deal with the fallout of committing adultery with an NFL insider is shameless,” said Outkick’s Jon Root..
“It would be better if Vrabel just came out and said ‘Look, we all know what I did. I’m a horrible husband and father but I’m not going anywhere or answering any questions about it. We’re moving on to football,” said Glenn Naughton, editor of JetNation.com. “Far more respectable and avoid silly stuff like puppies.*
