Speaker 1: Hey, they're folks. It is Friday, April twenty fourth, and
Speaker 1: Mike Rabel keeps talking, So that means everybody else keeps
Speaker 1: talking about this scandal between the new England Patriots coach
Speaker 1: and a now former NFL reporter. With that welcome to
Speaker 1: this episode of Amy and TJ aprol If this has
Speaker 1: become a tap Lloyd story. Their headlines all over the place.
Speaker 1: Everybody's talking, but Mike Rabel seems to want to keep
Speaker 1: talking as well. We heard from him again last night.
Speaker 2: Yes, this was a little surprising.
Speaker 3: Do you remember last week when we said, wow, do
Speaker 3: you know the one person we're not talking about, the
Speaker 3: one name we're not saying Mike Rabel, Because all we
Speaker 3: were talking about was the female the NFL reporter, Diana Racini,
Speaker 3: and even another female sideline reporter NFL reporter who ended
Speaker 3: up getting fired for making negative comments about Diana Rossini.
Speaker 3: So we weren't talking about Mike Rabel. But man, things
Speaker 3: have changed this week, and namely because he has been
Speaker 3: addressing photographs. There have been more photographs that have been released,
Speaker 3: and some people have blamed him by not admitting it,
Speaker 3: by not fully acknowledging it that now Internet sleuts are
Speaker 3: trying to trap him and find more reasons to keep
Speaker 3: his name in the headlines. But he has yes made
Speaker 3: another public statement right before the NFL Draft.
Speaker 1: Last night, and he had to do this. He spoke
Speaker 1: earlier this week and essentially just address and folks, you're
Speaker 1: up on the story by now coach Mike Brabel, the
Speaker 1: second year head coach of the New England Patriots, was
Speaker 1: seen in some without a doubt, compromising photos with former
Speaker 1: NFL reporter Diana Russini, who was working with the athletic
Speaker 1: She has since resigned. But both of these are married
Speaker 1: people with kids, married to other people. But it's clear
Speaker 1: in the photos this was more than just colleagues. Those
Speaker 1: are things we can just state as facts. The rest
Speaker 1: of it and the speculation and all that, we're not
Speaker 1: going to get into all that, but those are just facts.
Speaker 1: They have never come out and just flat out She
Speaker 1: certainly didn't Robes Russini flat out come out and say
Speaker 1: that they did something wrong. In her resignation letter, she
Speaker 1: talked about a false narrative and all this stuff. He
Speaker 1: was the one earlier this week when we finally heard
Speaker 1: from him Robes who said he had done wrong without
Speaker 1: saying I'm sorry or exactly saying what he had done wrong.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he said he had difficult conversations with his family.
Speaker 3: Is pretty much how he put it. His first response
Speaker 3: was that the pictures or a response was laughable. He
Speaker 3: has very much changed his tune since that moment, and
Speaker 3: he was specifically asked about his initial comment when he
Speaker 3: made his latest presser at least before the NFL draft,
Speaker 3: and he addressed that.
Speaker 2: But yes, now he has gone.
Speaker 3: So far as to say that he is acknowledging that
Speaker 3: he basically has had bad behavior. So he's taken it
Speaker 3: a step further. But this was because more pictures were
Speaker 3: released on yesterday that date back to twenty twenty. There
Speaker 3: was a photo of Rabel and Racini in a New
Speaker 3: York City in twenty twenty where they just seem very friendly.
Speaker 3: His hand is on her leg, I believe, and I
Speaker 3: think there was a pack or a kiss. And then
Speaker 3: there was another photo of them at a twenty twenty
Speaker 3: four in twenty twenty four at a casino where they
Speaker 3: just looked like they were having a good time. And
Speaker 3: so because of those two photos, it seems that Mike
Speaker 3: Rabel felt the need to then stand in front of
Speaker 3: reporters and the press and a microphone and speak again
Speaker 3: about his behavior.
Speaker 1: He didn't say anything. He said as much this time
Speaker 1: as he said the first time, again not much, saying
Speaker 1: he's taking accountability for his behavior, but not exactly saying
Speaker 1: what that behavior is. No one has acknowledged that these
Speaker 1: two were in a relationship of some kind, a romantic one.
Speaker 1: They have not confirmed that at all. If that's their business,
Speaker 1: that's what they're doing, that is fine. However, robes the
Speaker 1: issue when people either you don't talk, but if you're talking,
Speaker 1: you better clear up the questions if people have and
Speaker 1: the reason the story keeps going robes is. I think
Speaker 1: the first time he spoke earlier this week at a
Speaker 1: press conference, essentially saying the same things, I didn't act right.
Speaker 1: I didn't hold myself to the right standard. We even
Speaker 1: when he said earlier this week, why did he have
Speaker 1: to see this. He's not under investigation, he's not being punished.
Speaker 1: He didn't necessarily have to do this. Your estimation was
Speaker 1: it was either coming from his wife or two he
Speaker 1: knew something else was coming in certain something else was.
Speaker 3: It seems like maybe it was both, because yes, you
Speaker 3: had you have I'm sure a wife who has been quiet,
Speaker 3: who has been silent. He's been married to her for
Speaker 3: twenty six years in counting. He has two adult sons
Speaker 3: with his wife, Jen, and so yes, my speculation was
Speaker 3: that she wanted him to put a public face on
Speaker 3: it and to acknowledge his misstep and to basically be
Speaker 3: respectful of her and their children together by publicly acknowledging
Speaker 3: this without getting specific.
Speaker 2: But yes, there were more pictures that came out.
Speaker 3: We don't know if he knew it was coming out,
Speaker 3: but he again now took to the microphone.
Speaker 2: I feel like he tried to take it a little
Speaker 2: step further.
Speaker 3: He hasn't acknowledged anything specific that is true, but he's
Speaker 3: talking about his actions, taking accountability for his actions.
Speaker 2: He's talking about being a distraction. But he has not.
Speaker 3: And he did start it off by saying, I understand
Speaker 3: that there are a lot of questions well, and.
Speaker 1: One has not been it's I don't know if it's
Speaker 1: being asked. It is being assumed that these two were
Speaker 1: having an affair. They have not denied that outside of
Speaker 1: their initial statements, which actually didn't deny it, just kind
Speaker 1: of brushed it off. All this is laughable, that kind
Speaker 1: of thing, But neither one of them have acknowledged. They
Speaker 1: don't have to for my sake at all. They don't
Speaker 1: need you to do anything.
Speaker 3: But if you want the internet sleuths, the tabloid magazines,
Speaker 3: the folks who are trying to get you caught, you gotcha.
Speaker 3: The only way you put that to bed is if
Speaker 3: you go ahead and say what needs to be said,
Speaker 3: and there's nothing less to find out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because he's essentially I guess what, Robes. He hasn't
Speaker 1: said anything but the suggestion. Now that again another set
Speaker 1: of pictures from six years ago, showing them in once
Speaker 1: again a compromising position to where there are more than
Speaker 1: just colleagues. Okay, he doesn't have to answer that. He
Speaker 1: has to answer that to his family, to his wife,
Speaker 1: and maybe to his team. But Robes, if he keeps
Speaker 1: speaking to the press, you gotta say something that answers
Speaker 1: the questions that are in the press. He keeps saying
Speaker 1: thank you all for being respectful to my family, thank
Speaker 1: you all to these reporters in the room. But Robes,
Speaker 1: he hasn't said I'm sorry, and he hasn't used the
Speaker 1: word apologize in public. I'm not saying he has to.
Speaker 1: But if he's trying to do some pr which seems
Speaker 1: like he's trying to do, it's making it worse.
Speaker 3: It is making it worse because when you decide to
Speaker 3: speak camera like, you decide to speak to the press
Speaker 3: and you don't directly address the photographs.
Speaker 2: That have everyone asking you questions.
Speaker 3: If you don't address the nature of your relationship with Rassini,
Speaker 3: when you talk to the press about the photos about
Speaker 3: this relationship, you're just going to continue to fuel more speculation,
Speaker 3: more digging into your past life because either don't talk
Speaker 3: at all or say something that actually directly addresses the issue.
Speaker 1: Yes, one or the other.
Speaker 2: He's trying to do something in between, and it's not working.
Speaker 1: You can't thread that needle. You just can't in this
Speaker 1: age of social media, this age of internet sluts, as
Speaker 1: you say. But here he was last night. We knew
Speaker 1: this had to happen because this was the NFL Draft
Speaker 1: got started last night. So he's there with his team
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh for the draft, so he had to do
Speaker 1: all these coaches do a press conference. So he did
Speaker 1: a press conference, stepped out, and the first thing they
Speaker 1: said is it's going to make a comment then take
Speaker 1: some questions, and at the end of his comments, he said,
Speaker 1: that's going to be all I'm gonna say, essentially trying
Speaker 1: to tell the room don't ask me nothing after I
Speaker 1: get done with my statement. So he made about a
Speaker 1: three minute statement, but this was the relevant part. We'll
Speaker 1: play for you here. Now it's a little low, but
Speaker 1: you can make it out. But this is, I guess Robes.
Speaker 1: This was the strongest part of his statement in addressing
Speaker 1: all that's been going on.
Speaker 4: You know, my previous actions don't meet the standard that
Speaker 4: that I hold myself to. They don't. And what I
Speaker 4: believe is best for the two most important things in
Speaker 4: my life, my family and his football team, is for
Speaker 4: us to take the necessary steps to work together and
Speaker 4: to give them what I told them I'd give them,
Speaker 4: which the best version of me. And that's what we're
Speaker 4: gonna do. And that's going to start. That has started,
Speaker 4: that'll that'll continue this weekend, and it'll continue for however
Speaker 4: long it takes for me to give them complete that
Speaker 4: promise of given giving them the best version of me possible.
Speaker 4: And that's what's going to happen. And that's what's been happening.
Speaker 1: However long it takes. I guess Robes perked some years.
Speaker 3: Yes, A lot of people wrote about that, saying that
Speaker 3: he's basically leaving space for him to take a leave
Speaker 3: or to not be as present on the football field
Speaker 3: or with the Patriots if his family needs him to
Speaker 3: be focused on something else. So he gave himself room
Speaker 3: to prioritize his family over football.
Speaker 1: You know, that was I don't know if I had
Speaker 1: it in this sound bite, but it was a part
Speaker 1: of something he said earlier, the two most important things
Speaker 1: in his life family and football in that order. And
Speaker 1: he's but he said moving forward, he is going to
Speaker 1: find a better balance that he has found. I think
Speaker 1: that's probably real because the Robes from college to the pros,
Speaker 1: we've been around a bunch of coaches, a bunch of programs.
Speaker 1: The thing, you, man, these guys are so committed to
Speaker 1: that job and head coaching, it just consumes their lives.
Speaker 3: Right And now, given what's been exposed, I would imagine
Speaker 3: what's going on in his home with his wife. She's like, yeah,
Speaker 3: so now now let's talk about balance. Now let's talk
Speaker 3: about having you be a part of this family in
Speaker 3: a way that maybe you haven't, which allowed for perhaps
Speaker 3: what we saw in these pictures to occur.
Speaker 1: But you know, we don't know what's going on with
Speaker 1: his life. We piece it together. I'm just thinking how
Speaker 1: stressful his life. He's been a pro player, went into coaching,
Speaker 1: another head coaching gig, he went to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Robes the dedication, the sacrifice, his entire but he has
Speaker 1: two grown sons, they're on their twenties, props. The sacrifice
Speaker 1: is that entire family has made for him to be successful.
Speaker 1: It's just a it was a group thing. But we
Speaker 1: don't know. But these things robes that balance. We talk
Speaker 1: about how that can He's acknowledging it has contributed to
Speaker 1: some failings of his and his household. I hated to
Speaker 1: hear that part. That was the realist part. I think
Speaker 1: I've heard from Mike Rabel in all of this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, look and look, and the point being
Speaker 3: is we may not hear from him again on this,
Speaker 3: and maybe let's hope we don't, because if he's not
Speaker 3: going to say anything that's going to clear up and
Speaker 3: get specific with all of these rumors, then he probably
Speaker 3: shouldn't say anything at all. Because look, we heard from
Speaker 3: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last night again, he told ESPN
Speaker 3: that rabel is not any of his actions or any
Speaker 3: of this controversy doesn't fall under the league's personal conduct policy.
Speaker 2: He said that it is a team.
Speaker 3: Matters, that the NFL is not looking into disciplining him.
Speaker 3: They're not looking into investigating him. They are just cheering
Speaker 3: him on and supporting him. So he has no professional issues. No,
Speaker 3: so he doesn't need to speak again.
Speaker 1: As long as they start winning, he will have further
Speaker 1: no professional issues. I took him to a super Bowl
Speaker 1: in his first year as coach, his team, the Patriots.
Speaker 1: Did you see their statement yesterday, Robes, They put out
Speaker 1: a statement. I have never seen a more full throated
Speaker 1: support of a guy in scandal from his employer ever, Like.
Speaker 2: Ever, He's gonna be okay.
Speaker 1: Wow, that was incredible. Again, no crime is alleged here,
Speaker 1: nothing criminal. He's not being investigated for anything. So this
Speaker 1: is just something Robes right now that they want to
Speaker 1: go away that it looks bad. It is a personal matter,
Speaker 1: but it becomes so public now. I don't know if
Speaker 1: the NFL is it just a does it hurt the league?
Speaker 1: Does it hurt the team?
Speaker 2: Probably not?
Speaker 1: Ask me.
Speaker 3: Week four there's no morality clause in the NFL contracts.
Speaker 1: Boy, that would be a really crappy product to watch
Speaker 1: on Sunday. There's a morality clause. But stay with us.
Speaker 1: Robes was talking about just a moment ago. There. For
Speaker 1: a while, at least the first week or so, it
Speaker 1: seemed like all we were talking about were women involved
Speaker 1: in this particular case. Now, finally all the attention seems
Speaker 1: to be on Brabel, but we are getting updates from
Speaker 1: the woman at the center of this scandal as well.
Speaker 1: Diana Rossini, has made some moves.
Speaker 3: Stay here, Welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy
Speaker 3: and TJ. Mike Rabel keeps standing in front of a
Speaker 3: microphone and not saying much while he's trying to put
Speaker 3: to bed this controversy that has not let go for
Speaker 3: the past couple of weeks. More photos emerging between Mike
Speaker 3: Rabel and former NFL reporter who was once working for
Speaker 3: the Athletic The New York Times reporter Diana Rossini. She
Speaker 3: has since resigned, but now we're looking at photos that
Speaker 3: date back to twenty twenty. So the allegations are that
Speaker 3: this relationship, whatever it was, may have been going on
Speaker 3: for six years. Plus, so while we aren't getting any
Speaker 3: clarification from Vrabel, we are getting some very interesting moves
Speaker 3: from Diana Rassini. She has dramatically altered her social media presence,
Speaker 3: they can put it that way. On Thursday, when these
Speaker 3: new photos emerged, she turned her Instagram into a private account.
Speaker 3: She has two hundred and four thousand followers. You no
Speaker 3: longer can follow her if you want to, and she
Speaker 3: can decide who comes.
Speaker 2: And who goes.
Speaker 3: And then perhaps the most dramatic thing she did, she
Speaker 3: completely deleted her ex account.
Speaker 2: And I saw some folks who.
Speaker 3: Are NFL, who report on the NFL, they say, this
Speaker 3: the X that is like a NFL reporter's like blood.
Speaker 2: That's how you communicate.
Speaker 3: That's how you get instant information out to fans, to viewers,
Speaker 3: to supporters. And this is kind of your communication basically
Speaker 3: with the people who follow you for the latest and
Speaker 3: greatest information. For her to delete this X account signify
Speaker 3: something very significant.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it just rose. Is there an uglier place for
Speaker 1: discourse than X? I mean it is. It is awful, babe.
Speaker 2: I've been off X for ten years.
Speaker 3: I do not I have an account like just to
Speaker 3: look at other people's accounts. But this is like when
Speaker 3: I was at Good Morning America a long time ago.
Speaker 3: You can go down this horrible rabbit hole a feeling
Speaker 3: awful about yourself because pretty much people just use that forum.
Speaker 2: To lambast you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it can be that was the right thing.
Speaker 2: It's brutal.
Speaker 1: That was the right call for her, and I understand that. Rose.
Speaker 1: I just don't know what's next or what else is coming.
Speaker 1: We talked about Rabel. He is off on Saturday, at
Speaker 1: least with the team. The NFL Draft goes through Saturday,
Speaker 1: but he has already announced he will not be with
Speaker 1: the team on Saturday. Instead, Robes found a counselor working
Speaker 1: on a Saturday, but he told us he was going
Speaker 1: to start start counseling, but the sound by yesterday sounded
Speaker 1: like he's already started.
Speaker 3: It did sound like it, and his family seems to
Speaker 3: possibly be involved as well, because he said he was
Speaker 3: going to be spending the weekend yes in counseling, but
Speaker 3: also with his family. So this could be a personal journey,
Speaker 3: he could also be a collective journey. They may be
Speaker 3: having family counseling, couples counseling. There may be a lot
Speaker 3: of therapy going on in the Raable household, and look
Speaker 3: if that puts them on and puts him on a
Speaker 3: better path. Sometimes, Look it's it's hard to see it
Speaker 3: and feel it when you're in the midst of something
Speaker 3: like this, as public and awful as it feels, this
Speaker 3: could be the beginning of something really beautiful and new,
Speaker 3: a new start for him, a new way forward, a
Speaker 3: better way of living and being, and so that could
Speaker 3: actually this could all end up being a really positive,
Speaker 3: incredible thing for him and for his family.
Speaker 1: And be kind if you can throughout. I know how
Speaker 1: it is robes and how people are, but just please
Speaker 1: take a beat and be kind before you hit send
Speaker 1: on whatever you're saying and whatever rumor you're putting out there,
Speaker 1: and whatever speculation you're having about it. I know you
Speaker 1: think Rabel and you think Russini are the worst people
Speaker 1: in the world, and they deserve everything coming to them.
Speaker 1: But these people got families. These people have kids who
Speaker 1: are reading this stuff, who are still going to school,
Speaker 1: who still have their own circles, who still have their
Speaker 1: own family. There's just so many people touching this thing,
Speaker 1: and we know that people are hurting right now. Don't
Speaker 1: know who's respond you want to lay blame. I understand,
Speaker 1: but Rose, this is just horrible for a family to
Speaker 1: go through privately. It is almost unbearable to think about
Speaker 1: going through it this publicly. So just that to your folks.
Speaker 1: It's a lot of stuff being said out there. Just
Speaker 1: take a beat and be as kind as you can
Speaker 1: to people who that you, even though ones you think
Speaker 1: have done terrible things. Just take a beat. Yea, it
Speaker 1: hits in.
Speaker 3: There's always a level of understanding that we'll never get,
Speaker 3: that we'll never know, We don't ever know what it's
Speaker 3: like to walk in someone else's shoes. Always try to
Speaker 3: remember that a certainly before hitting send and without everyone,
Speaker 3: thank you for joining us. We always appreciate you. On
Speaker 3: Amy Robach alongside TJ.
Speaker 2: Holmes. We will talk to you soon.