The New York Times, the parent company of The Athletic, published a massive story about Dianna Russini’s alleged affair with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel on Wednesday morning.
This deep dive featured plenty of new details about the Russini-Vrabel scandal while also raising questions about the former NFL insider’s conduct.
Podcaster Reacts to Dianna Russini Calling an NFL Head Coach To Dodge a Ticket
The New York Times article highlighted an incident from January when a police officer stopped Russini for texting and driving while her two young sons were in the car with her.
Russini told the story during an appearance on the “Stugotz and Company” podcast and shared that she first tried to get out of the ticket by telling the police officer that she was breaking news that the Buffalo Bills fired Sean McDermott.
When that didn’t work, Russini offered to call the head coach of the cop’s favorite NFL team. She then called the head coach, who answered and advised the officer to let her go and vouched for her as a “good citizen.”
The article notes that the head coach was not Vrabel.
While Russini found this story funny, The Athletic did not. A Times Company spokesperson, Danielle Rhoades Ha, called it “unacceptable conduct.”
Tony Farmer, who has been covering the Russini and Vrabel scandal since the first photos were published, took to X to share his thoughts on the story.
Who was the coach Dianna Russini called when she got pulled over for texting and driving? It wasn’t a coach of the Bills or Pats according to the NYT, so there’s only 30 men it could be.
Every beat writer of the 30 remaining teams should ask the head coach they’re covering about…
— Tony Farmer (@Tonysmarkettips) June 24, 2026
“Who was the coach Dianna Russini called when she got pulled over for texting and driving?” Farmer asked. “It wasn’t a coach of the Bills or Pats, according to the NYT, so there are only 30 men it could be. Every beat writer of the 30 remaining teams should ask the head coach they’re covering about this incident. … I just heard the clip of her talking about it on a podcast. It’s not the Jets either. We are down to 29 possibilities.
“It’s odd for a journalist to feel that close to a source where they’d feel comfortable doing that. It suggests that Mike Vrabel may not have been the only coach that Dianna Russini blurred professional lines with.”
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Kelly McBride, the chair of the Newmark Center for Ethics at the Poynter Institute and a former ombudswoman at ESPN, stated that this incident represents an abuse of professional access for personal gain.
Robert Lipsyte, who is a former sportswriter for the Times and an ESPN ombudsman, told The New York Times that Russini “should know better” than to blur these lines with Vrabel and other coaches.
Regarding Russini and Vrabel’s alleged relationship, Lipsyte stated: “They were operating very flagrantly. The blatancy of it is shocking.”
The Athletic’s investigation into Russini’s conduct is ongoing, with the findings expected to be released publicly soon.
