Dianna Russini suffers fresh blow in her attempt to return to the NFL after Mike Vrabel affair scandal
Dianna Russini appears to have cast her final vote in the annual NFL Honors awards.
The reporter, who resigned from The Athletic in the wake of explosive allegations over her relationship with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, was one of 50 journalists selected to make picks in the Associated Press’s prestigious poll, holding the coveted spot since 2022.
Russini and Vrabel, who are both married with children, denied having an affair after shock pictures emerged of them together at an adults-only resort in Arizona.
The images, which rapidly went viral, prompted The Athletic to launch an investigation into the relationship, with further photos appearing to show the pair kissing in a New York City bar in 2020.
In the wake of the revelations, some have called on AP to release the ballots from previous polls, with Vrabel winning Coach of the Year in 2025. Indeed, NFL podcaster Tony Farmer blasted AP for declining to do so.
‘The Associated Press will not release its ballots so we can see if the woman on the left voted for the man on the right for Coach of the Year, and see who she voted for in slots 2-5,’ he posted on X.
Dianna Russini is reportedly set to speak about the scandal that engulfed her and Mike Vrabel
Russini now appears to have cast her final vote in the prestigious Associated Press poll
‘If Russini left Ben Johnson off her ballot like she did the prior year (Assistant COTY) when he received 29 1st-place votes, then that would be really tough to explain.’
Elsewhere, during a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Aaron Rodgers took aim at Russini’s former employers ESPN for failing to address the scandal.
‘What was this network doing?’ Rodgers said. ‘You had literally an individual that maybe used to work at ESPN, that covers our league at the highest level, and there’s a major scandal, and it’s just like nobody can [expletive] talk about it? What are we even doing here?
‘I understand, but if it’s affecting certain things, if there’s leaks going on, if there’s tampering going on, if that person is also an MVP voter and a Coach of the Year voter, remember when I won MVP in 2021 and that [expletive] in Chicago? That’s real life. How are we allowing these people to have an impact?’
Daily Mail Sport has asked AP to clarify whether Russini would be voting this year. They stopped short of directly answering the question however, in a quote, seemed to suggest that would not be the case.
Vrabel’s New England Patriots kicked off the NFL season with a loss against the Seahawks
Russini covered the Tennessee Titans for ESPN when Vrabel was head coach of the team
A spokesperson said simply: ‘The makeup of AP’s NFL awards voting panel changes regularly as sports reporters change positions and organizations, and this year is no different.’
According to Page Six, Russini is now considering offers to return to the NFL beat and is preparing to share her side of the story. The report claims that the 43-year-old, who was paid around $800,000 a year by The Athletic, has turned down a host of interview offers and intends to speak out ‘on her own terms’.
Earlier this month, The Athletic published the results of its probe. It found that Russini was ‘noncompliant’ with its standards but that also there was limited evidence of bias in her reporting.
‘Russini’s relationship with Vrabel was in clear violation of The Athletic’s standards. Regardless of whether the relationship was romantic, it was a breach and should have been disclosed,’ it said.
‘Specifically, when it comes to The Athletic’s standards, Russini was noncompliant.’
Mike Semel, The Athletic’s editorial director for standards and quality, said that he found no ‘clear link to conclude that Russini used her platform to help promote Vrabel or help his teams during her time at The Athletic.’
Aaron Rodgers recently ruffled feathers with an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show
Russini has regularly cast one of 50 media votes in the prestigious AP Coach of the Year award
He did, however, find occasions when the NFL insider wrote ‘glowingly of Vrabel that in hindsight are awkward or even uncomfortable.’
Following the investigation, Russini said in a statement: ‘I stand by any and all reporting I’ve ever done in my career.’
Russini was a reporter for ESPN covering the Tennessee Titans when Vrabel was head coach, before later joining The Athletic while he ended up back the Patriots, whom he had represented with distinction as a player, winning three Super Bowl rings early in an unprecedented era of dominance.
Vrabel issued an apology just before the NFL Draft, missing the final day of the event to attend counselling. In his first season in New England, he turned around the misfiring franchise to lead them back to a place in the Super Bowl.
