For Dianna Russini, the past several months have brought a big change in a career that made her a distinguished NFL insider. The former Athletic reporter stepped away from her position in April after photographs of her with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel surfaced.
NFL Reporter Offers Hope for Dianna Russini
Mike Silver, NFL writer for The Athletic, believes Russini is doing better and could eventually find her way back.
“She’s doing a lot better and her family’s doing well. I do think she’s going to be back. Probably not as an insider at least in the short term, but I think she’ll be back in this realm probably talking about football and other things pretty soon,” Silver said Thursday.
Mike Silver Shares His Thoughts on Dianna Russini
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— Tom Tolbert (@byronjr23) August 27, 2026
That possibility would represent a significant development for Russini, whose career was built around access, relationships, and breaking news from inside NFL organizations.
The controversy began in April 2026, when Page Six published photographs of Russini and Vrabel together at the Ambiente resort in Sedona, Arizona. The images showed them holding hands and hugging at the property shortly before the NFL owners’ meeting in Phoenix.
Initially, both rebuffed the speculation around the images. Russini said they were part of a larger group of friends, while Vrabel dismissed the suggestion of a romantic relationship as laughable.
However, The Athletic began examining Russini’s workplace conduct and whether the circumstances raised concerns about her reporting. On April 14, she resigned from the organization, walked away from her social media accounts, and began describing herself as a “former journalist.”
The story gained more traction when more photographs surfaced in the court of public opinion. Among them were images reportedly taken in 2020 of Russini and Vrabel in a New York City bar, a few months before Russini tied the knot with Kevin Goldschmidt.
Vrabel eventually acknowledged the situation and apologized. He also missed the third and final day of the 2026 NFL Draft, stepping away from his professional responsibilities to focus on his family and enter counseling.
His status with the Patriots remained unchanged. The NFL did not penalize Vrabel or announce an investigation, treating the matter as a personal issue.
Nevertheless, in the months following Russini’s resignation, she and Goldschmidt were photographed together in New York City on several occasions. They were seen at a Bruce Springsteen concert and together at Mother’s Day dinners.
The Vrabel family has likewise remained largely private.
