Chase Daniel addressed his former podcast co-host Dianna Russini and her relationship with Mike Vrabel for the first time.
Daniel launched Scoop City with Russini for The Athletic prior to the 2024 NFL season, but episodes stopped in early March of this year, nearly one month before Page Six published the first round of photos depicting a possible extramarital relationship between Russini and Vrabel.
This week, Chase Daniel appeared on The Jim Rome Show, where he made his first comments about the ever-growing list of headlines around Russini and Vrabel.
About one hour into the above video, Rome noted the podcast Daniel had with Dianna Russini, and asked whether he’s been able to speak with his former co-host since the story broke.
“Look, that’s something that’s just unfortunate in many different ways. And we haven’t really chatted about it,” Daniel admitted. “We haven’t done any of that, so I’m going to leave that there. That’s their business. It has turned into quite the assignment of everything, it’s like TMZ is covering it, the Wall Street Journal, all these things are covering it, so I’m sure she’ll land on her feet somewhere and that’s all I’ll really say about that.”
The comment wasn’t quite as supportive as the job offer Stugotz extended to Russini, with Daniel seeming much more focused on trying not to say anything too noteworthy. And in another decade, Rome may have pressed Daniel for a more interesting quote. But the modern version of Jim Rome took a more considerate approach, responding with, “I can respect that.”
Last month, The Athletic confirmed to Awful Announcing Scoop City is “in transition.” If the podcast does return, it will likely be with new co-hosts, as a source told Awful Announcing Daniel’s contract for the show expired, and Dianna Russini has since resigned from The Athletic amid an internal investigation into her relationship with Vrabel.
In addition to working as a part-time studio and game analyst with ESPN, Daniel recently teased building something new for the fall.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com