Dianna Russini, the NFL reporter with New York Times, was seen with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. Photos accessed by Page Six showed the duo at Arizona’s Ambiente hotel, weaving fingers together, dancing, and lounging in a hot tub.
The photos have led to a lot of speculation surrounding the two and many Philadelphia Eagles fans found new reason to criticize her reportage of AJ Brown, their wide receiver.
Diana Russini-AJ Brown controversy explained
“Can’t believe Diana Russini was peddling AJ Brown to the Patriots news every 3 days because she was playing hanky panky with Mike Vrabel,” one person remarked on X. Another added “well that explains why Diana Russini reports on the Eagles and AJ Brown the way she does lmao.” Yet another claimed “we now know why Diana had weekly reports on AJ Brown all season and tried to singlehandedly tank the Eagles season.”
On Threads too, a page dedicated to the Eagles noted “Eagles fans are speculating that the AJ Brown rumors are coming directly from New England after @nypostsports released photos of Patriots HC Mike Vrabel and ESPN’s Dianna Russini spending time together at the NFL’s league meetings in Phoenix.”
Notably, Russini has constantly reported that AJ Brown could be on the move from the Eagles and had also indicated that the Patriots might be in contention to sign the 28-year-old.
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Even before the speculations of a possible affair, Russini was called out by Eagles fans for her reportage on Brown. The Spun noted that Russini had indicated Brown might move to New England Patriots or Los Angeles Rams. Russini’s reports were slammed when Brown remained with the Eagles. “You don’t say? It’s almost like the contract made it obvious he wouldn’t be traded before June 1st, but that didn’t fit with the need of NFL media to generate clicks at the expense of journalistic integrity,” one remarked. Another slammed the reporter saying “Shocker… clickbait Russini strikes again.”
However, it is crucial to note that there is absolutely no indication that Russini’s association with Vrabel influenced her reporting in any way. Russini, being a female sports journalist, has been accused in the past as well, when Washington Commanders (then Redskins) manager, Scot McCloughan’s wife, Jessica, levelled cheating accusations against her. Russini was with ESPN at the time, and her co-worker Jemele Hill had come to her defense, slamming the accusations which ‘reinforced a trashy stereotype about female sports journalists.’
At present, both Vrabel and Russini have come out with statements amid speculations of an affair. “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable,” Vrabel told the New York Post. “This doesn’t deserve any further response,” he added. Russini also joined in and said “The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day. Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.”
It was earlier reported by Page Six that Vrabel’s friend claimed they had driven to the hotel where Russini was and then gone back to their place, about two hours away, after hanging out with the journalist and her friends. Meanwhile, a source close to Russini told the publication that she’d gone hiking with female friends. Both Russini and Vrabel are married to other people. While the former tied the knot in 2020, the latter has been with his wife since 1999. Both Vrabel and Russini have two children with their respective spouses.