An explosive article published by The New York Times about former NFL insider Dianna Russini has once again brought her scandalous relationship with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel into the spotlight. The lengthy article posted on Wednesday detailed the complicated timeline of events that led to Russini’s resignation from The Athletic in April.
Mike Florio Details In-House Battle in Dianna Russini Scandal
During Wednesday’s segment of “Pro Football Talk,” Mike Florio detailed how the Russini-Vrabel scandal has played out in an in-house battle between the New York Times and The Athletic employees.
“Why is this a thing? She doesn’t work there anymore,” Florio said. “She resigned. Why is The Athletic doing it? Because there’s lingering acrimony and awkwardness between The Times employees and The Athletic employees. The Times employees, they got rid of their sports department when the Times bought The Athletic.”
“There’s this perception that The Athletic is held to a different standard than the journalists who work for the New York Times,” Florio added. “There’s a lot of in-house stuff that is driving this, and that’s why I think they’re just gonna announce it because if you provide the outcome of the investigation internally, somebody’s going to leak it. Somebody who works for The Times or The Athletic is going to leak it.”
The Times article revealed that Russini earned a lucrative annual salary of $800,000, making her one of the best-paid reporters at the company. In addition, her contract, which expired at the end of June, was due for renewal.
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The Athletic’s executive editor, Steven Ginsberg, initially defended Russini when the pictures of her and Vrabel looking cozy were first published by Page Six in April. Ginsberg then opened an investigation into the reporter, who resigned barely a week after his statement of support.
On Wednesday, NFL podcaster Tony Farmer questioned The New York Times’ report regarding the extent of Ginsberg’s knowledge before his statement of support for Russini.
“If Ginsberg didn’t have all the photos, why didn’t he say that previously?” Farmer said in a video on X, “That’s a great defense. People are questioning why you defended Dianna Russini.
“Why did you immediately jump to her defense, Mr. Ginsberg, without investigating? He got a lot of heat for that. Some people would say the entire reason this investigation is happening is because of those comments.”
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Various reports have indicated that The Athletic’s lengthy internal investigation into the Russini saga has already led to disgruntlement among staff at the sports outlet as it has dragged on for over two months.
