O’Donnell: Vrabel, Poles, Vikings, McVay — Bears somehow avoid awkward draft maze
WHO SAID THAT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE couldn't present compelling intrigue and passion during an intense draft weekend?
And that was just the ongoing reveal leaks about the “association” between New England coach Mike Vrabel and idle-wild NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
Vrabel's apparently just been holding a unique sort of personalized press briefings for the past six years.
IF HE KEEPS TAKING the Patriots to Super Bowls, by league code, family-room morality be damned.
It's only the optics that could concern commissioner Roger Goodell and his high-sheen image polishers at NFL headquarters, 345 Park Ave., New York, N.Y.
That TMZ picture posse can be more rabid than the White Sox marketing staff in search of yet another conveniently cross-pollinated tie-in to Pope Leo XIV.
THAT SAID, AS THE 2026 DRAFT finally hits “Mr. Irrelevant” — this year, quite possibly Russini's husband — some notables:
Ryan Poles — Watching the Bears GM grow has battled The New Stadium Derby for No. 1 episodic drama at Halas Hall. … Poles let the first round come to him Thursday night and managed it in commendably reactive fashion. … But here's the whole truth about the 2026 Bears: If they open games more assertively and catch as many lucky late breaks as last season, they'll still be parading the Super Bowl 61 trophy on St. Patrick's Day.
The Minnesota Vikings — What's gotten into the land of sky-blue waters? … Wasn't this a facile 14-3 outfit a mere 15 months ago? … Now, down a very good GM (Kwami Adolfo-Mensah) and one SB-champion QB (Sam Darnold), they roll the Norse bones on fragile edge Caleb Banks at No. 18, leaving swift-belt safety Dillon Thieneman for the Bears. … In Lake Forest they'll call it NFC North providence.
Sean McVay — The Rams sideline chief should certainly be a finalist for a Sports Emmy in the category “Head Coach Most Likely to Bite GM's Head Off After Nutty Draft Pick.” … Les Snead took Alabama QB Ty Simpson at No. 13. … McVay must have been outside the war room signing for a food delivery. … The uneasy 11-minute video of Snead and McVay afterward could be titled “L.A. Woe Men.”
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BILLY DONOVAN WASTED NO TIME in putting his stylish Lincoln Park home up for sale after departing as head coach of the Bulls.
The best that can be said of Donovan's labored six-year run at the United Center is that he survived with his Hall of Fame reputation essentially intact.
That was no easy feat in a franchise culture notorious for sucking superior talent down into a bizarre vortex.
ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, Donovan made it through a drifting 2025-26 campaign during which his father and mother-in-law died within weeks of each other and his mother had a leg amputated.
At age 60, his dueling realities are that he undoubtedly still has some coaching juice left. But he also has generational money to sit back and comfortably watch distant 3-pointers fly.
FOR DEEPEST STUDENTS OF DONOVAN, here's a tab of hither and yon: Way back in 1987, after Billy D was drafted and waived by the Jazz, his Rookie League coach for Wes Unseld Sr. and the then-Washington Bullets was Jeff Bzdelik (Prospect High, Class of '71, UIC '76).
The two overachievers had a ton in common and forged a four-corners friendship that lasts to this day.
STREET-BEATIN':
The Cubs suddenly morphed into one of the hottest teams in baseball and now if only TV play-by-play man Jon Sciambi could keep pace. No one is denying the man's talent. It just seems that he has significantly more topspin when he's handling a national college basketball game. (Maybe it's the dreaded Jim Deshaies Effect.) …
Palatine's Dee Poulos led a spirited campaign that tried and failed to get champion Black Tie Affair into The National Racing Hall's Class of '26 at Saratoga. The front-running thoroughbred called Arlington Park home and most famously won the 1991 Breeders' Cup Classic under Jerry Bailey. The late Ernie Poulos — the husband of Mrs. Poulos — trained for northwest suburban car dealer Jeff Sullivan. …
“My Father, Dick Allen” — a five-part docuseries on the charismatic MLB slugger who owned the South Side of Chicago from 1972-74 — will tease with the first two segments premiering at the SeriesFest film festival in Denver on May 9. The tale is told through the eyes of Richard Allen Jr., a co-producer of the project along with Dr. Richard Fletcher, Willa Allen, John Owens and Sharon Pannozzo. …
Steven Farber of Weigel Broadcasting closed for his WCIU (“The U”) to telecast 24 Chicago Sky games this season. The package will debut on May 9 when Rickea Jackson, DiJonai Carrington and a troupe hoping for upward trajectory visit the expansion Portland Fire. …
And Jimmy Kimmel, during one of the most lasered monologues in the history of late-night TV, opened softly following Round 1 of the NFL draft with, “Tonight 16 of our nation's most talented prospects gathered in Pittsburgh, each hoping and praying that their name would not be called by the Jets.” (The full 14-minute bit is must-see YouTube.)
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.