Chris Simms talks about Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel while Mike Tomlin snatches his NBC Sports job away

So much is happening around the alleged Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel scandal. Russini lost her job. But anyone even remotely associated with the alleged Sedona cheating scandal is being dropped one by one. First, Dianna Russini gave in her resignation to The Athletic [part of The New York Times].Then, Crissy Froyd was fired from USA TODAY after she commented on Dianna Russini’s resignation. And now, Chris Simms was let go from Football Night in America after Mike Tomlin entered the NBC Sports realm.Simms was about to spill the beans on Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel when his co-host, Mike Florio, advised him not to.Simms said, “Well, it’s the biggest story in the NFL. I’d shoot you straight, these are things that I’ve been texting with… about my friend… with my friends in the coaching world… even their wives are involved in the conversation as well…”When Florio interrupted him and continuously went on humming, “Stay on target. Stay on target. Stay on target.” Simms may have lost the target, but he spoke his mind. This may not have sat well with NBC Sports.And then comes the news of Mike Tomlin entering the broadcasting world after coaching in the NFL for nearly two decades. This news was exciting, but may not have been for Simms, who was probably scorned for saying, “I’ve been texting with my friends in the coaching world…”Mike Tomlin and Chris Simms share a professional and respectful relationship from their time together in Tampa Bay [2003-05]. Simms is a former Tampa Bay quarterback, and Tomlin was the Buccaneers’ defensive backs coach at the time.Now, could his firing be because of his comments about coaches? As soon as the longstanding coach entered the broadcasting world, his firing news broke. Is this issue so fragile? It seems to heavily affect anyone even slightly associated with Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel.“I’m not on the show anymore, Mike,” Simms told Mike Florio. “I don’t know if anyone told you. I will not be a part of Football Night in America. They told me that last week, so that’s just going to be a different aspect. That hurt because I do love it.”This cut-throat commentary competition, which probably centers on Simms’ Dianna Russini/Mike Vrabel comment, welcomed another coach reportedly linked to Dianna Russini.While even those remotely associated with Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel are reportedly being let go, the opposite has occurred for another NFL figure, an NFL coach.Back in October 2020, ESPN’s Steve Levy highlighted Dianna Russini’s impressive reach via an X post: “Good job, [Samantha Ponder], for pointing out how nearly impossible it is in 2020 to get a pregame interview with an NFL coach, and [Dianna Russini] gets both [Mike] Tomlin and [Mike] Vrabel.”Russini secured pregame interviews with two coaches, Mike Vrabel and Mike Tomlin, on a single Sunday morning during COVID-19 restrictions.Despite this connection coming to light only recently, Mike Tomlin has been awarded a broadcasting role on Football Night in America, a position once held by his former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, Chris Simms.MLFootball shared a clip of Chris Simms and Mike Florio's discussion on X with the caption: "Chris Simms was FIRED by NBC from their Sunday Night Football coverage not long after, when he almost revealed what coaches and their wives have been telling him about Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini."Bill Belichick's girlfriend Jordon Hudson shared that MLFootball's post on her X with the caption: "We're not talking about this? Why not, [Pro Football Talk]?"Mike Florio said via The Spun, "Two weeks ago after USA TODAY fired Crissy Froyd for comments she made on Twitter when Dianna Russini resigned from The Athletic, I addressed the manner in which the aggregators had reacted to my effort to steer Chris Simms on PFT live as he was potentially deviating from the known and reported facts about the controversy involving [Dianna] Russini and [New England] Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.They believed that I'd reached through the camera and applied a concrete muzzle to [Chris] Simms, just as he was about to make some dramatic revelation that would have provided a definitive solution to the entire situation.The truth was far less interesting. I practised law for 19 years. I know where the line is. I was trying to keep my co-host and friend away from it, by getting him to stick to what was known and/or properly vetted and reported.At that specific moment, my goal was to protect my co-host and friend from accidentally saying something that isn't known and/or hasn't been properly vetted and reported.Such comments can have consequences, potentially in the form of a civil lawsuit for defamation." Spoken like a lawyer. As safe as it could sound."We're just talking about the story here, not enough people are," Mike Florio said via PFSN. "A lot of people are afraid of it. It's so funny that the jabronious aggregators think that I'm afraid to talk about it all becauseI tried to keep Chris [Simms] from deviating from the known and vetted and reported facts when we talked about it for the very first time because they didn't want him to say anything that was going to get him in any trouble. I didn't know what he was going to say, so I said to stay on target."