Sportswriter Dianna Russini is facing renewed criticism after giving an interview to People magazine addressing her departure from The Athletic following reports of an alleged affair with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, an incident tied to a couples retreat in Arizona.
The scandal broke last year when Page Six published photos showing Russini and Vrabel together at the Arizona retreat. Both are married to other people. Russini has maintained that nothing happened between them, even as additional photos of the two surfaced afterward.
Russini resigned from The Athletic in the wake of the reporting, writing at the time that she had “no interest in submitting to a public inquiry.”
In the new People interview, promoting her return to sports media with a show called “The Russini Report” on BetUS Tv, Russini framed her experience as a story of resilience rather than addressing the substance of the allegations.
“I really hope that I can be someone other women see: you can pick yourself up, get back in there and not be afraid,” she told the magazine.
Russini also described extensive support from the NFL and players during her time away from work.
“The absolute best part of this situation has been the loyalty the NFL has shown me,” Russini said. “They checked in with me almost daily while I wasn’t working to make sure that I was staying connected to football, to check on me as a person and to just see how I was doing.”
She said the experience brought clarity about her family and priorities.
“But through it, I did get an opportunity to not just learn about myself, but my family and our priorities,” she said.
Critics, including a New York Post opinion column, argue the interview sidesteps the core controversy entirely, presenting Russini’s sidelining as something that happened to her rather than a situation she played a role in, and casting her return as inspirational without acknowledging the ethical questions raised by her relationship with a coaching source.
Russini has not addressed in the interview whether her conduct with a source in the league raised ethical concerns for a reporter covering the NFL.
