Sports
AJ Brown trade outcome: Dianna Russini paid a heavy price while Mike Vrabel emerged unscathed
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Mike Vrabel and A.J. Brown were winning on Tuesday because the long-rumored trade that reunited them was finally complete. Brown was free of his recent unhappiness with the Philadelphia Eagles, while Vrabel spoke easily and smartly about how his Super Bowl team was getting better.
It was one lovely victory lap for everybody.
Except for Dianna Russini.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel celebrates after the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field At Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Jan. 25, 2026. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
MIKE VRABEL BREAKS HIS SILENCE ON DIANNA RUSSINI CONTROVERSY
Yes, this is about her as much as Vrabel and Brown. Those three names will be linked for a long time in NFL circles based on what happened going back as far as September of 2025, and then definitely through this offseason that was about, well, the relationship between the coach and the reporter.
If you aren’t up to speed on that relationship, you’ve got homework. And you will probably catch up easily because the reference material is everywhere — the photos of Russini and Vrabel together, the denials of anything untoward between two married people, the collapse of the professional friendship narrative, and everything after.
So, to the uninitiated, you’re excused. Go now and read the soap opera’s opening chapters. Because this might be the saga’s end, barring a major surprise.
And let me cut to that end:
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown walks on the field during an NFL training camp in Philadelphia on July 29, 2025. (Matt Rourke/AP Photo)
Brown wins. He’s wholly unscathed, in fact, and happy as a clam with a new team he grew up adoring.
Vrabel wins, too. Yes, he took some lumps, suffered some humiliating moments in front of reporters and had some family conversations he termed “very difficult,” but he’s ultimately none the worse for wear.
And then there’s Russini. She lost. Big time.
FORMER NFL REPORTER MICHELE TAFOYA WEIGHS IN ON WHY RUSSINI’S CREDIBILITY IS GONE
It was saddening to watch Vrabel’s presser because it was Russini who first reported teams were calling the Eagles about Brown back in September of 2025. She first reported the Eagles weren’t interested in trading Brown.
Russini called it when she told everyone the Patriots were interested (so were the Los Angeles Rams, by the way). And she was right again when she said earlier this year that Brown wouldn’t be traded around the start of the league year in March but watch out for June.
She was dead-on accurate with practically all of it.
Dianna Russini, left, and Mike Vrabel, right, are shown in a split composite image featuring Russini with an ESPN microphone and Vrabel on the Titans sideline wearing a headset. (Imagn Images)
But everyone has surmised all that information came out of her relationship with Vrabel. All that insider work came from other alleged inside work.
Russini’s information was great but how she seemingly attained it eventually led to her resigning from The Athletic. And sullying her professional reputation.
Losses.
MIKE VRABEL STEPS AWAY INDEFINITELY TO SEEK COUNSELING
Vrabel? He seemed just fine on Tuesday.
About the hardest thing he had to do was answer a question about Brown’s obvious displeasure last year in Philly.
“I don’t know what happened,” Vrabel said. “I’m not trying to figure out what happened in Philadelphia. I’m trying to focus on what’s going to happen here and trying to get him acclimated to what we do and how we do it.”
Vrabel, during this press conference, congratulated a reporter for winning a marathon. He thanked Executive Vice President for Player Personnel Eliot Wolf for making the trade happen. And he took a bunch of football questions.
Dianna Russini attends the 2026 Fanatics Super Bowl Party at Pier 48 in San Francisco, California, on Feb. 7, 2026. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
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There was not one question about whether he indeed for months leaked to Russini details of where the Patriots and Eagles talks were. Not one question about how his family “counseling” sessions are going or if his marriage is certain to survive.
There was nothing uncomfortable because it seems the local media lost interest or its curiosity on a day the story that Russini beat them on for months was laid bare before them.
And, the thing is, if Vrabel didn’t have to sweat this occasion, he’s probably in the clear. He’s not likely to get tough questions about the whole affair (pardon the pun) again unless more facts come out that raise the issue from the grave.
So, yeah, Mike Vrabel has survived. He’s won.
FOLLOW ARMANDO SALGUERO ON X: @ARMANDOSALGUERO
Sports
WWE Survivor Series: WarGames heads to Houston in November
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WWE will swing for the fences for the second straight year when it hosts one of its major premium live events of the year at a Major League Baseball ballpark.
The company announced on Monday that Survivor Series: WarGames will take place at Daikin Park in Houston – the home of the Astros – on Saturday, Nov. 28. It follows up the success of last year’s Survivor Series: WarGames event, which took place at Petco Park in San Diego – the home of the Padres.
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Roman Reigns lands a Superman Punch on Brock Lesnar during Survivor Series at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif., on Nov. 29, 2025. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
“Houston is the perfect host city to celebrate this milestone chapter in Survivor Series’ storied history, and we look forward to partnering with Houston First and the Houston Astros to deliver an unforgettable event,” WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said in a news release.
WarGames is a highly anticipated match, which has taken place yearly among wrestlers on the WWE roster since 2022. The premium live event has also seen some dramatic returns.
Stephanie Vaquer enters the ring during Survivor Series at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images)
In 2023, CM Punk came back to WWE at the end of the show and shocked the entire sports world. Randy Orton also made his in-ring return during the match. Last year, a mystery attacker interrupted the WarGames match and gave the win to The Vision and company.
It’s unclear what is in the cards right now for the 40th edition of the event.
“We are proud to be able to help bring one of the world’s premier entertainment brands to Houston for what promises to be an unforgettable holiday weekend,” said Michael Heckman, President and CEO of Houston First, which partnered with WWE to bring the event back to Houston.
Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio celebrate their win during Survivor Series at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
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“Hosting WWE Survivor Series will bring thousands of passionate fans to our city and generate a significant economic impact for community. Houston has earned a reputation for delivering world-class entertainment events, and we look forward to welcoming the WWE Universe to our destination.”
Sports
Commentary: Inside the Shohei Ohtani Economy driving a wild auction for his worn cleats
How much would you pay for a pair of shoes? Someone else’s shoes, I mean.
Would you pay $7,000 for a chair on which Taylor Swift sat in a basketball arena — for an NBA playoff game, not for her wedding? Someone did.
There was one Swift chair up for bid. The Dodgers gave away 52,000 trading cards as part of a promotion for the Japanese animated series “One Piece” this month, and the current asking prices for one of those cards on eBay range from $784 to $15,656. Even at the low end … strike that, there is no apparent low end to the collectibles market these days.
Now add Shohei Ohtani to the mix. A pair of his cleats hit the auction block Monday, hyped by the promoter as “one of the most significant baseball artifacts ever” and “the greatest baseball footwear ever made available” and “the most culturally significant footwear ever worn on Japanese soil.”
In this case, the adjectives are more than breathless. Ohtani is the best player in baseball, the favorite to win his fifth most valuable player award in six years, an international tourist attraction, and a global pitchman making an estimated $125 million in sponsorships and endorsements this year.
So, the footwear: These are the cleats Ohtani wore when the Dodgers opened the 2025 season in Japan, decorated with art of his world-famous dog Decoy and signed by Ohtani with Asian kanji characters rather than English letters.
The cleats were purchased last year by Take to the Universe (TTU), a Japanese company that distributes beauty and wellness products in Japan and throughout Asia. State records show the company registered a subsidiary in Los Angeles two months ago.
The cleats Shohei Ohtani wore during the Dodgers’ 2025 season opener in Japan are on the auction block.
(The Realist)
“We thought, hey, we could actually use this to market our company and enter into the U.S. market,” said Ryoji Iguchi, chief executive of the subsidiary. Iguchi declined to say how much TTU paid for the cleats.
For a Japanese company to leverage Ohtani and the Dodgers to introduce itself to an American audience is nothing new — not just for tangible consumer goods, but also for animated characters.
You wouldn’t actually go into a store and ask for a TTU product, though. You eventually might go into a store and ask for a beauty product made by another company. TTU would just get it there.
So how does selling a pair of cleats create brand awareness for a brand consumers would not even know?
“This interview,” Iguchi said.
The Ohtani Economy strikes again: You don’t know us, but we’re coming to America, we want to help you sell your wares — and we’re selling Ohtani’s cleats!
The sale was arranged by Scott Keeney, founder of the Realest, a Los Angeles-based enterprise specializing in sports and entertainment memorabilia.
The cleats Shohei Ohtani wore during the Dodgers’ season opener in Japan in 2025 are on the auction block.
(The Realist)
Keeney talks about the “museum-grade” and “investment-grade” quality of the cleats. You might find a trading card marketed as one of one, but someone could make another. In this case, no one can make another pair of cleats worn by Ohtani on that particular day.
“It’s no different than art, where you’re seeing paintings selling for tens, hundreds of millions of dollars,” Keeney said. “The top grails are in a category of their own.
“It’s what the ultra, the top 0.0001% want, and they appreciate faster than anything else in the category.”
So how much might the Ohtani cleats command, given the combination of sport and celebrity?
Kobe Bryant’s sneakers from the game in which he tore his Achilles tendon — and hit two free throws before he left the court — fetched $660,000. Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game” shoes sold for $1.4 million. Kanye West wore “Air Yeezys” to the Grammys, and the pair sold for $1.8 million.
The ball Ohtani hit for his 50th home run in his 50-50 season: $4.4 million. And, speaking of holy grails: Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” fetched $32.5 million.
I cannot afford that, in this lifetime or any other. Perhaps you can. If you cannot, the Realest is offering this free-to-enter contest: Guess the sale price of the Ohtani cleats and, if you come closest to the actual sale price, you win 1% of the price. In the event of a tie, the first submission wins.
The cash would be nice, because this is just a pair of someone else’s worn shoes. But, since everything else Ohtani does seems to be unprecedented, this auction just might be too.
Sports
Stefon Diggs, still seeking new NFL home, insists no team has a better No 2 receiver ‘than me’
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Stefon Diggs is still looking for his next NFL team after one season with the New England Patriots, which ended in a Super Bowl LX defeat.
With NFL training camps across the country set to kick off at the end of the month, Diggs, who will be entering his 12th season, made quite the statement during a recent YouTube video on his channel.
Diggs stated that he is the best No. 2 receiver in the league, and he explained why.
New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) walks to the podium to speak to the media after a minicamp held in the WIN Field House at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on June 10, 2025. (Eric Canha/Imagn Images)
“Everybody got a 1,,” he said. “Opportunities aside, people might say there’s seven real 1s. In my opinion, I can compete with anybody, but take those as your 1s. You can’t name a No. 2 better than me. There’s not a No. 2 on a team. Let’s presumably give people the credit and just say, ‘OK, you want to take the No. 1 spot away.’ Name your No. 2 receiver right now. Tell me how much he makes. My last question is: Is he better than me?”
Diggs put up 1,013 yards in his 11th season, his first and only with the Patriots, on 85 receptions (102 targets) with four touchdowns from breakout star quarterback Drake Maye . It marked Diggs’ seventh 1,000-yard season in the NFL, which have come in seven of the last eight seasons.
ODELL BECKHAM TOLD GIANTS COACH HE’S READY TO ‘GO OUT ON MY SWORD’ TO EARN ROSTER SPOT
The 32-year-old did note being a No. 2 option, which means he could be willing to take a pay cut to join a squad that he could help get back to the playoffs and, as ever player hopes, the Super Bowl. But no team has pulled the trigger just yet.
Could Diggs’ off-the-field issues be a factor? He faced some serious allegations in December after being charged with felony strangulation and misdemeanor assault in a dispute with his private chef.
New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs speaks during his introductory press conference on March 28, 2025. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
However, Diggs was found not guilty by a jury, with the NFL closing its review on the matter, stating there was insufficient evidence to warrant a suspension for violating its personal conduct policy. Diggs’ attorney said that “professional athletes have a target on their back” following the non-guilty verdict.
“We have taken these allegations seriously from Day One and that’s exactly why we were eager for the facts to come to light through the legal process,” Mitch Schuster of Meister, Seelig & Schuster, the firm that represented Diggs, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital in May.
The Patriots released Diggs in March, but he has been staying in shape and looking for the next opportunity since the league cleared him last month.
New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs plays against the Seattle Seahawks during Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8, 2026. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
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Teams to watch could be the Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Kansas City Chiefs, or even a Buffalo Bills reunion with Josh Allen, who built such a rapport with him to earn four straight Pro Bowls from 2020-23.
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