Jim Rome: NFL opening 2026 season with Seahawks-Patriots because of Mike Vrabel controversy
It was a little surprising when the NFL announced it would open the 2026 season the same way it ended it, with a game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.
The Seahawks’ 29-13 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl LX wasn’t particularly exciting or memorable outside of Seattle, and while both teams are expected to do well again this year, neither has the star power of the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, or Los Angeles Rams. It’s a perfectly fine choice for Wednesday, Sept. 9, but not the flashiest.
However, Jim Rome sees a storyline and a surprising way that the NFL wants to treat it. The longtime radio host thinks the league purposefully wanted that game front and center to lean into the scandal surrounding Patriots coach Mike Vrabel.
“Has a Super Bowl rematch ever meant less?” asked Rome on Friday’s show. “This Super Bowl rematch has nothing to do with a Super Bowl rematch and everything to do with the public fascination with the Patriots’ head coach, his personal life, and where his career goes from here. That’s what that’s about.”
The NFL upstaged all 32 social media teams by announcing VRABEL on OPENING NIGHT. pic.twitter.com/wx05XsBw3S
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) May 15, 2026
Rome is referring to the ongoing controversy surrounding Vrabel and his relationship with former The Athletic NFL reporter Dianna Russini. After photos of them looking cozy at an adults-only resort went public, Vrabel initially scoffed at their importance, then later admitted he’d let his family and the team down (though he never actually said what happened). He missed the last day of the NFL Draft to attend counseling and spend time with his family, and has mostly remained out of the spotlight since then, though new photos and videos of him and Russini together over the last six years continue to surface.
“Just imagine this Super Bowl rematch ends up being a Super Bowl replay, and the Patriots get their heads caved in again. Man, imagine if Vrabel gets blown out on opening night after the offseason from hell. Imagine how insane the narratives and the overreaction and the lava pigs and the pearl-clutching and the histrionics and the hysterics are all going to be if that’s how it goes down on opening night. Imagine all that. Oh, you know who already did imagine all that? The Shield. The Shield, obviously.
“That’s why they gave us that game. That’s why they knew they could upstage the entire schedule release [Thursday] with one simple post, with one simple graphic… They knew they would upstage the entire thing by giving us Vrabel as soon as they possibly could. Sorry to the 32 teams. Sorry to the 32 production budgets. Sorry to these social media teams that have spent countless months getting ready for their big night, for their own Super Bowl. The Shield just owned all your *sses yesterday.”
We’re not sure we entirely follow Rome’s logic, since the NFL schedule-release videos certainly made waves, as they always do (including one with a cheeky reference). Where Rome’s theory does offer room for conversation is the presumption that the league might want to lean into the Vrabel storyline rather than try to kill it. Certainly, in public forums, the NFL is distancing itself from all of it. But at the end of the day, they know what drives viewership and interest. And right now, Mike Vrabel is a household name, not because of his playing and coaching bona fides, but because of what he allegedly did off the field. And that’s the kind of juicy story that attracts eyeballs.
For their part, the NFL said that the Vrabel controversy played no role in their decision.
“Look, we focused on the football game and the reach of the Super Bowl, and that alone is an incredible story,” NFL Executive Vice President Hans Schroeder said Friday. “We liked the idea of really celebrating the Seahawks, giving them a moment to start this year to celebrate their last year. And so we like the idea of opening on NBC on Wednesday, and really using that as a chance to celebrate the rematch, but celebrate Seattle specifically.”
