The ongoing scandal involving NFL insider Dianna Russini and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has raised many questions about journalistic ethics and how reporters interact with their sources.
Now, an NFL writer is pulling back the curtain on the “culture of corruption” around the league, calling out fellow female reporters for having sexual relationships with coaches and team personnel.
NFL Writer Calls Out Fellow Female Reporters Amid Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini Scandal
In a first-person account for The Daily Mail, NFL reporter Crissy Froyd wrote about losing her sportswriting job at USA Today for her reaction to the Vrabel-Russini scandal. She also makes it quite clear that these relationships are quite commonplace in the NFL.
“I will write what has been whispered about for decades: that some female sports reporters and powerful male team employees trade sex for stories and that is a corruption that must be exposed,” Froyd wrote.
“I’ve also been told by at least half a dozen female reporters that they have had sex with NFL staff and, in one case, a prominent NFL head coach, while they were covering the team. It takes a high degree of trust to make such a confession, so I assume that many other similar stories go untold.
“Gossip about these illicit reporter-NFL employee relationships is even more prominent. Over my career the number of stories has numbered in the tens — and they have involved some of the most prominent female sports reporters and NFL coaches in the country.”
Froyd writes that she started hearing rumblings about Russini and Vrabel roughly six years ago.
“Around 2020, I was told by a well-known national sports reporter in explicit terms that Vrabel, then coach of the Tennessee Titans, and Russini were carrying on a secret relationship,” Froyd wrote. “It was one of the first rumors that I heard when I began my NFL reporting career. I’d hear many more.
“This climate breeds a culture of corruption,” Froyd added. “If female reporters don’t play by the rules of this male-dominated game, they are at a disadvantage. And if media organizations that cover the NFL refuse to recognize this while the reporters who cover the league are too intimated to investigate it, the culture will continue.
“The Vrabel-Russini scandal also casts suspicion over the journalists and NFL teams that do things that right way, of which there are many. That’s unfair and demoralizing — and that’s why I tweeted about Russini’s resignation from The Athletic, resulting in my termination from USA Today.”
After news broke publicly about Vrabel’s relationship with Russini, he stepped away from the team on the third day of the 2026 NFL Draft to enter counseling alongside his family. The Patriots have supported Vrabel and his job appears to be safe. The NFL has said that it won’t investigate Vrabel since they are treating this as a personal matter.
As for Russini, she resigned from The Athletic. It remains to be seen what her next move will be and whether she will try to resume her career as an NFL insider.
