ESPN’s Inside the NBA clowns Dianna Russini, Mike Vrabel in ‘Gone Fishing’ graphic

Inside the NBA analyst Charles Barkley seemed unsettled by the image and called out the production crew with a “You guys are …” as show host Ernie Johnson attempted to list the other people on the boat. Fellow analyst Kenny Smith seemingly attempted to bring attention to Russin and Vrabel by playfully asking, “Who are the two people at the front? I don’t know them,” before Barkley quickly shut him down.

“Stop it,” Barkley told Smith as Johnson continued to list off the boat’s other occupants: “That’s all I see on that boat. I don’t see anything else.”

Mike Vrabel, Dianna Russini reportedly photographed kissing in New York City bar in 2020

An alleged off-field relationship between Russini and Vrabel has become tabloid fodder over the last month since Page Six released pictures of the pair hugging and holding hands during a recent vacation at a luxury hotel in Arizona. Those pictures set off a series of events that included Russini’s resignation from her role covering the NFL for The Athletic, as well as Vrabel’s late pre-draft announcement that he’d be stepping away from the team to seek counseling.

Two weeks ago, the New York Post’s Page Six released new photos that appeared to show Vrabel and Russini — both of whom are married — kissing inside New York City’s dimly lit Tribeca Tavern on March 11, 2020. Vrabel announced plans to skip the third and final day of the 2026 NFL Draft to seek counseling and spend time with family just days after those photos were released.

“They were kissing and they were all over each other,” an alleged “eyewitness” reportedly told Page Six. “He had a ring on.”

Vrabel was married to his wife, Jenn, at the time of the 2020 encounter, and was two years into his six-year stint as the Tennessee Titans head coach (2018-23). Meanwhile, Russini, who was covering the Titans for ESPN at the time, was roughly six months away from marrying her now-husband, Kevin Goldschmidt.