Patriots season-ticket holders give Mike Vrabel a standing ovation amid Dianna Russini controversy
While the rest of the world, both inside and outside the NFL, discusses and even debates the Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini saga, it is apparent the coach continues to enjoy the support of some people who matter most:
Such as Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
And season-ticket holders.
We know this because this week, even as scrutiny on the coach grew amid his Draft-day absence while he sought "counseling," the Patriots had Vrabel join an event for season-ticket holders.
At that packed house event inside the atrium of Gillette Stadium, those season-ticket holders universally showed Vrabel love. They applauded for him.
They even gave him a standing ovation when he was introduced.
MIKE VRABEL BACK AT PATRIOTS FACILITY AFTER 'COUNSELING' DAYS OFF
And that leaves us with a lot to unpack.
The NFL has deferred all decisions regarding Vrabel and his relationship with Russini, a former reporter for The Athletic, to the Patriots. Commissioner Roger Goodell said nothing the league has reviewed so far violates the NFL Conduct Policy and that the matter will be handled at the club level.
Vrabel confirmed last week he met with Kraft and team president Jonathan Kraft about the matter. And however those conversations went, Vrabel continued to coach the team, continued to be put in front of reporters as a face of the franchise, got the courtesy of getting the final day of the Draft off to spend time with his family, and was put in front of the club's most important customers for a question-and-answer session.
So the speculation the Patriots are somehow not in Vrabel's corner at the moment is ludicrous.
The same obviously applied to those season-ticket holders who showed a near-rabid support for their coach.
Vrabel has been a distraction to the team at a pivotal moment in the offseason. He's embarrassed himself and his family and lost credibility with some peers around the NFL.
None of that requires punishing him with a public flogging. But a standing ovation?
And here is where this story just advances from new layer upon new layer. It is obviously now a moral question that will leave people debating, well, morality.
One side will argue nothing has been proven that requires disapproval of Vrabel. It's all people drawing conclusions based on the photographs of Vrabel and Russini together. Some people in that crowd might also argue they have a right to support their head coach.
The dissent, meanwhile, asks some tough questions.
Did the wives in that audience who stood think about what message they were sending?
Are Patriots fans so conditioned to accept or push back on scandals dating back 20 years that they are going to ride or die with their team, players, ownership and coaches no matter what?
And does Vrabel's great ability to lead the club override whatever personal failing he might be guilty of?
That last one dates back to the earliest days of sports: for generations, athletes, coaches and owners have often gotten away with behavior others consider questionable — as long as they win.
Winners get a benefit of the doubt not offered to losers.
Great talents get second chances not offered to marginal talents.
Those who produce are embraced even when they're photographed embracing a female reporter on the roof of some Arizona resort bungalow.
Vrabel took the Patriots to the Super Bowl last season. It was an unexpected return to prominence for a franchise that had been suffering a years-long desert experience following decades as a dynasty. Vrabel then won the Coach of the Year award for his work.
So, yes, Patriots fans do love him — even to the point they seem to be overlooking questionable behavior.