Dianna Russini Says She'll ‘Tell Her Side’ of the Mike Vrabel Story as Patriots Coach Faces New Scrutiny
A controversy that cost one reporter her job is coming back into the spotlight, just as New England's season opener went sideways of its own.
Reporter Dianna Russini is reportedly telling associates she'll "tell her side" of her offseason controversy with Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, 50, once she takes her next job — reopening a story that began in April when photos published by the New York Post appeared to show the two, both married to other people, holding hands and embracing at a resort in Sedona, Arizona.
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The fallout was real and immediate at the time: Russini resigned from The Athletic, and Vrabel missed Day 3 of the NFL Draft to seek counseling. A subsequent Athletic review — which examined 903 of Russini's articles and 77 videos — concluded she had violated the outlet's editorial standards by failing to disclose a conflict of interest, but found little evidence her actual coverage of Vrabel had been biased. That review, a five-month internal process led by editorial director Mike Semel and published as a roughly 2,800-word report, went further than the initial resignation reporting suggested: it found no clear link between Russini and any direct effort to promote Vrabel or his teams in her coverage, but noted that the account she initially gave to explain the Sedona photos didn't fully align with the facts the review later established, a real credibility issue on top of the disclosure violation itself. She hasn't taken a new job since resigning back in April; Barstool Sports and Dan LeBatard's Meadowlark Media have both been floated as real potential landing spots as she reportedly weighs multiple genuine offers. Barstool has reportedly emerged as the real front-runner, helped by Russini's existing friendship with "Pardon My Take" hosts Dan "Big Cat" Katz and PFT Commenter, and founder Dave Portnoy has already publicly called signing her a "no-brainer." No final decision has been announced, and reporting suggests she's weighing options ranging from a traditional NFL-insider role to something closer to a personality-driven show.
The photos showed a "completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable."— Mike Vrabel, Patriots head coach, initial statement
"I’ve had some difficult conversations with people that I care about, with my family, the organization, the coaches, the players. Those have been positive and productive. We believe that in order to be successful on and off the field you have to make good decisions. That includes me, that starts with me. We never want our actions to negatively affect the team. We never want to be the cause of a distraction."— Mike Vrabel, Patriots head coach, follow-up statement
Our take: the timing here is genuinely brutal for Vrabel — a fresh round of unwelcome attention on a story he clearly wanted closed for good, landing in the very same week his team opened the season with a real fourth-quarter collapse. Whether or not Russini's eventual comments change anything factually, the optics of both happening at once will genuinely follow this team into Week 2 and beyond.
Timeline: How the Vrabel-Russini Story Unfolded
Photos taken at a resort in Sedona, Arizona later published by the New York Post.
Russini resigns from The Athletic; Vrabel misses Day 3 of the NFL Draft for counseling.
The Athletic's review finds an undisclosed conflict of interest but no biased coverage; Russini says she'll share her side once she has a new job.
A story New England hoped was behind it is resurfacing at the worst possible moment — right as the football itself is already going wrong.
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Sources: ESPN, CBS Boston, Barrett Media