A photo of Mike Vrabel and Deanna Russini intertwining their fingers in a luxury hotel has started a social media trend poking fun at their interaction.
Page Six exclusively obtained photos of the New England Patriots head coach and the NFL’s top reporter holding hands and hugging at Ambiente in Sedona, Arizona, two weekends ago. Vrabel said the interaction was “totally innocuous,” but Russini said the group of six were “hanging out during the day.”
Big Cat and Kate, hosts of Barstool Sports’ podcast “The Yak,” hilariously linked fingers for an outdoor photoshoot to recreate Vrabel and Russini’s pose from Wednesday’s episode.
“See, that’s normal,” Big Cat joked. “That’s totally normal. Oh my gosh, guys.”
“We do this all the time,” he added, while Kate quipped, “It’s two friends talking ball.”
Big Cat explained the photo to his fellow podcast hosts, saying he and Kate wanted to try it themselves to see if the pose was awkward, and admitted he found it “weird”.
“It’s tough,” Kate commented.
They also imitated the pose while sitting at their desks and looking at each other.
Big Cat also joked on X, “Sometimes you end up crossing your fingers, on a private rooftop, in a beautiful setting. It’s just my friends crossing their fingers. I’m always crossing my fingers with my boys. Hey, do you really want to lock up early? Not at all. It’s normal.”
Writer and producer Mark Blutman also took a funny photo of himself with actor Jerry O’Connell intertwining their fingers, and shared it with X, saying, “There’s a new ban on socially acceptable intimate acts between friends. People are free to lock fingers without shame.”
Social media has been making fun of the viral photo of Vrabel and Russini, with one X user joking, “Maybe she was explaining about the new age crystal bull. Or maybe Vrabel was demonstrating pass-blocking techniques. This is a totally normal interaction.”
A Page Six spy said the couple, who are both married to other people, had breakfast on the hotel restaurant patio around 10:30 a.m. on March 28, then spent about an hour relaxing together by the pool and relaxing side by side in the hot tub.
In the photo, the couple can be seen hugging each other on the private rooftop of a hotel bungalow at dusk, facing each other and clasping their fingers together. Spies said the two were seen dancing together briefly.
Three other witnesses said no one else was with Vrabel, 50, and Russini, 43.
But Vrabel said in a statement: “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable and deserves no further response.”
And Russini said, “The photo does not represent a group of six people hanging out during the day. Like most NFL journalists, the reporter is interacting with sources away from the stadium and other venues.”
