It’s been three months, but the Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel drama doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon.
The Athletic has an ongoing investigation into Russini’s reporting, and the Associated Press has yet to release Russini’s NFL awards ballot or revoke her vote despite the conflict of interest and the fact that she isn’t currently employed.
Now, NFL podcaster Tony Farmer is calling out various media outlets who have been reluctant to cover the scandal.
Tony Farmer Calls Out U.S. Media’s Silence on Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini Controversy
While The Athletic’s internal probe is still ongoing, many revelations have emerged about Russini and Vrabel’s alleged relationship. The AP has been silent on Russini’s glaring conflict of interest, as she is an NFL award voter and Vrabel won the Coach of the Year honor last season.
Farmer called out the U.S. media in particular for staying silent or avoiding certain aspects of the scandal.
“What’s interesting to me is that the U.S. media is treating it very differently than the world media,” Farmer said on a podcast appearance, comparing the reporting to that of overseas media outlets.
“Here in the U.S., ESPN, where Dianna Russini used to work, they’re very, very quiet about it. The NFL Network doesn’t want to talk about it either. What’s fascinating to me is that there are certain aspects of this case that nobody will talk about, like the fact that Dianna Russini is a Coach of the Year voter. The Associated Press, which controls the Coach of the Year voting process, won’t release her ballot like they did the prior year.
“They won’t explain why they won’t release the ballot, and even the AP, when they wrote an article about Dianna Russini resigning, they didn’t even mention that she was one of their Coach of the Year voters. So it’s a very taboo subject.”
While Russini resigned from The Athletic in the aftermath of the controversy, Vrabel continues to lead the Patriots. After winning the Coach of the Year award and taking his team to Super Bowl LX, his job appears to be safe. New England has backed him every step of the way, even when he stepped away from the team on Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft to attend counseling with his family.
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Vrabel and Russini have been the story of the NFL offseason. Ever since Page Six published photos of Vrabel and Russini at an Arizona resort, the scandal has become a tabloid circus as new videos and photos kept surfacing.
Recently, Vrabel and his wife Jen were seen together at Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s star-studded wedding, with Jen wearing her wedding ring. Meanwhile, Russini was seen enjoying the Fourth of July on a luxury cruise with her husband, Kevin Goldschmidt.
There’s no clarity on what’s next for Russini’s career. She appears to be done with mainstream reporting, as she recently referred to herself as a “former journalist” in text messages with a reporter from The New York Times.
