While Boston sports radio has been having a field day with the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini scandal, one host has been steering clear of the alleged affair.
98.5 The Sports Hub host Scott Zolak, who played QB for the Pats and calls games on the team’s flagship station, has been doing almost everything possible to not talk about the scandal this week.
Zolak — a well-known Pats homer who does segments with Vrabel before games — on Thursday explained his reluctance to comment on the story.
A listener to 98.5’s “Zolak and Bertrand” wrote in to the show, asking why Zolak was uncomfortable with the Vrabel-Russini situation.
“I’m not going to comment on it,” Zolak responded. “I work with Mike during the football season, and multiple times in the offseason I do things with Mike, and I know Mike.
“Mike and I have a good back-and-forth working relationship,” he added. “I know Mike’s wife, she has been in some of the meetings. I know Mike’s two sons. I’ve met them, I’ve hung out with them during the football season.”
The 98.5 show has had Russini on for segments during Super Bowl weeks.
“I know Dianna Russini,” Zolak said. “I know the people involved, and I’m in no position to comment on anything that happened between these two. It does me no good.
“I like my jobs,” he added. “I like working here. I like working with the Patriots. I like doing games. I like doing TV with him. I like being with the team. For me to sit there and cast stones at this guy would not do me great things. So there’s your answer in a nutshell. It’s pretty much like the beat reporters.”
Russini on Tuesday announced that she’s leaving The Athletic after the prominent journalist and Patriots coach were caught holding hands at a luxury remote resort in Arizona.
Her resignation comes after The Athletic — owned by The New York Times — launched a probe into her conduct with the Pats head coach. Russini and Vrabel are both married.
Russini reports on the NFL and the Patriots, and she has recently covered the Pats’ reported pursuit of Eagles WR A.J. Brown. Ahead of the Super Bowl, Russini during a segment on “Zolak and Bertrand” reported that Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby wanted to play for Vrabel.
After The New York Post published the Russini-Vrabel photos last week, the pair downplayed the handsy interaction. But The Athletic a few days later opened the investigation, and she then quit.
When the photos were initially posted, Vrabel called the allegations “laughable.” The Pats coach has not commented on the situation following Russini’s resignation.
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