It was speculated that NFL schedule release day, the one day a year where teams’ social media departments will outright insult each other, would not be a friendly day for New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. It turned out to not be that bad.
Among the Patriots’ 14 opponents for the 2026 season, only the Los Angeles Chargers dared take a shot at the coach’s infamous scandal involving former The Athletic reporter Dianna Russini.
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It’s not a surprise the Chargers were that one team. They have become known for schedule release videos that are high in both mockery and production values, going back to their 2022 anime video that was a firehose of insults.
This time around, they did “Halo.” When they reached the Patriots, they had to clear digs at Vrabel with signs reading “Next photo dump: 1 mile” and “NY Post sent you a message.” Both refer to how the scandal has played out in the tabloids, with the New York Post and TMZ releasing a steady drip of photos featuring the coach and reporter together in various locales.
There was a bonus shot during the credits as well, as something called “Operation Playlist” was pulled up with the file name 12_18_22. That would be a reference to Russini’s Spotify playlist dredged up by internet sleuths, which was called “TURNIN THE PAGE” and shared with a user named Mike on Dec. 19, 2022.
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The Chargers handed Vrabel’s Titans their fourth straight loss on Dec. 18, 2022.
All of that is in line with what the Chargers have been throwing out in recent years.
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As for the rest of the NFL, some teams did better than others in the Social Media Super Bowl. Some more popular joke subjects included the Baltimore Ravens’ nixed trade for Maxx Crosby and the San Francisco 49ers’ power substation theory.
