Credit: The Athletic
By Matt Yoder on

The saga involving Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel hasn’t necessarily come to an end, but it has hit a major turning point.

Photos published a week ago by The New York Post of the pair at a private resort have led to Russini’s resignation from The Athletic. The resignation ends her three-year tenure at the publication, following her departure from ESPN in 2023.

Although The Athletic first stood by Dianna Russini in the immediate aftermath of the photo dump, things quickly changed. She was sidelined in the midst of an actual investigation, and reports were made public about internal strife being caused by mixed messages inside the publication. Even the story from the New York Times, which owns The Athletic and uses it as the paper’s sports section, raised more questions than answers by citing an unnamed source regarding the investigation, rather than having anyone go on the record, as happened initially.

Russini posted her resignation letter on social media. It could be best classified as defiant. She says she chose to take this step before her contract expired in June and blames leaks regarding the internal investigation, as well as the rumors and innuendo that have exploded around it.

“I have decided to step aside now — before my current contract expires on June 30,” Russini wrote. “I do so not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career.”

For his part, Athletic editor Steven Ginsberg’s message to staff about the resignation was also made public by media reporter Dylan Byers. And his view paints the picture of a reporter who hadn’t told her employer the whole story of her relationship with one of her sources.

“As additional information emerged, new questions were raised that became part of our investigation,” Ginsberg wrote. “While our investigation into Dianna’s conduct was ongoing, she chose to resign.”

With her contract expiring in June, there was no realistic prospect of Dianna Russini working for The Athletic to cover the 2026 football season. The question now becomes whether she will be working anywhere else.

It’s clear that Russini has tried to get ahead of the investigation’s results and has left The Athletic trying to hold on to what is left of her public reputation. Her letter is part resignation and part public relations statement. Although she continues to proclaim her innocence of any improprieties, the specter of misbehavior, journalistically, ethically, and morally, will be nearly impossible to shake. Just look at the one football tweet Russini issued in the wake of the scandal, and at what happened in the replies and comments, as evidence of that. She turned replies off to the post about her resignation letter.

Could you imagine the public furor if a major network signed Russini as an NFL insider this season? How would fans be able to trust her reporting? Could she ever offer any insights into Vrabel and the Patriots again and be taken seriously? How would the company explain what happened with Vrabel, given that the leaked memo from Ginsberg suggests she may not have given The Athletic the full story?

That memo may prove to be the most fatal blow to any hopes of reviving her NFL reporting career. Others may disagree, but if she does try to push forward as an insider, it would probably have to be for a digital company like Barstool Sports that isn’t shy about giving lightning-rod figures a second chance. (See: Gruden, Jon.)

It takes years to build credibility, but it can be lost in an instant. Maybe we will never know the real story of her relationship with Mike Vrabel. But it’s raised enough questions among the public that she can’t be seen as a reliable news source. That may be the result of a double standard for women in the industry, it may be the result of pictures being taken out of context, but the perception is that Russini can no longer be trusted. And that is a very real problem for her moving forward.

But that does not mean her media career is over.

Russini’s own statement makes it clear that she does not plan to let the Vrabel saga define her time in the industry. While Dianna Russini may not report on the NFL anytime soon, she would be far from the first personality to go through a scandal and stage a comeback. We live in a world where Chris Cuomo and Bill O’Reilly still regularly appear on national cable television, somehow. Anyone and everyone is free to launch their own podcast. Given her fame and notoriety, there will certainly be an audience for whatever she does next. And given the number of friends she has in the industry, odds are someone will give her a lifeline.

We know she has at least one standing job offer already. Jon “Stugotz” Weiner says he has a seat waiting for her at Fox Sports Radio.

This originally appeared in the Wednesday edition of  The A Block, Awful Announcing’s daily newsletter with the latest sports media news, commentary, and analysis. Sign up here and be the first to know everything you need to know about the sports media world.

About Matt Yoder

View all posts by Matt Yoder