An NFL insider has walked away from her job rather than ride out a public inquiry into her private life, the Wall Street Journal reports. Dianna Russini, a senior NFL reporter at the Athletic and former ESPN personality, resigned Tuesday after tabloid photos of her with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel triggered an internal review of her conduct. The New York Post's Page Six last week published images that it said showed the pair at an Arizona resort, including shots of them hugging and relaxing together in swimsuits. Vrabel, 50, and Russini, 43, are both married (to other people) with children.
The Athletic opened an investigation after the photos surfaced. In a resignation letter posted on X, and which USA Today refers to as "defiant," Russini told executive editor Steven Ginsberg that she has "nothing to add publicly" beyond earlier statements and insisted she has covered the league "with professionalism and dedication" and stands by all of her reporting. She thanked the outlet for initially backing her but said speculation "unmoored from the facts" had spiraled, and she had "no interest in submitting to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I am willing to accept."
Russini said she will leave before her contract ends June 30, stressing that her exit is not an admission that the "narrative" around the episode is accurate but an effort to avoid fueling it further. Ginsberg, in a note to staff, said there were "clear concerns" when the situation first came to light but that the Athletic's instinct was to support a colleague while continuing to scrutinize the matter; as more information emerged, he said, "new questions were raised." The publication, owned by the New York Times, will continue reviewing Russini's work. She declined further comment beyond her letter, but she initially told the Post there was a "group of six people" hanging out together at the resort, and that the photos were taken out of context and failed to show the group as a whole.
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