I never wanted to write this, but at some point the truth has to be spoken. From the moment I met this man, his life has been surrounded by scandals. It’s exhausting. He is exhausting. And the reason it matters is because the chaos never stopped – and I’m one of the people who paid the price for it.
So let’s start with the right now. He’s close with Vrabel – no surprise there. Look at what’s in the press: the alleged affairs, the messy coverage, the way it all drags women backwards in time. Am I shocked? Not even a little. These are the same patterns I saw when we were young. He has always cared more about the NFL, status, and the clout than anything resembling a personal life.
And the DUI? Everyone acted like it was some tragic isolated moment. It wasn’t. It wasn’t his first, and people rushed to paint him as the victim. He’s struggled with drinking for as long as I’ve known him – and I know because I lived through it. You want to talk about him coaching and football? That is a whole separate headache in the press. A deep rabbit hole I don’t even have the energy to unpack. Just read Reddit. That’s all I need to say.
Then there were the scandals around him – the Vikings boat prostitution scandal where people lost their jobs, the bizarre and cruel John Mayer-church-Andy Cohen situations. And the irony? I’ve never known him to have a single gay friend. Just saying. I’ve known the people he surrounded himself with in high school, college, and throughout the NFL. Are we clear.
But the public scandals are even the worst part. The real damage came from the personal scandals – the lying, the cheating, the manipulation, the narcissism, the emotional chaos, the abuse. The patterns of control. The way he took advantage of me in business and in my personal life. The deep trauma I’m still untangling. The ways I was exploited both personally and professionally, often in situations built on things that weren’t even accurate – still stay with me, and sometimes I look back and wonder what was wrong with the man I once thought I loved. That’s what broke me down over the years. That’s what finally burned the bridge completely. I don’t speak to him. I can’t. He made his choices, and with the healing I’ve done, I am free from someone who harmed and hurt me so deeply.
So yes – I’m breathing. I’m letting it out. And I’m done carrying what isn’t mine anymore. It’s all so gross and so far beneath me.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Nicole Nelson, Principal Designer
