Dianna Russini used her relationship with an NFL head coach to impress a police officer and avoid getting a traffic ticket, it has emerged.
An investigation into the former NFL insider and her affair scandal with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was published by the New York Times on Wednesday.
Not only did it detail how Russini was paid close to $800,000-a-year by the New York Times-owned Athletic before her career collapsed, but it also included comments from her that she wanted to remain private.
However, it also tells the story of how bosses at The Athletic were unhappy after Russini shared on a podcast that she once used her relationship with an NFL head coach to get out of a driving ticket.
Back in February, Russini revealed on ‘Stugotz and Company’ that she was pulled over by police weeks before for texting while driving. She added it was the second time within a month that she got pulled over while her two young sons were in the car.
Russini claimed she told the officer she was using her phone because the Buffalo Bills had just fired head coach Sean McDermott and she was trying to report the news.
Dianna Russini used her relationship with an NFL head coach to avoid getting a traffic ticket
Russini left her job as an NFL reporter after intimate pictures emerged of her and Mike Vrabel
But she managed to prevent a ticket by getting the head coach of the police officer’s favorite team to speak with him on FaceTime. It is not believed to be Vrabel.
‘So he names the team [that he is a fan of] and I go, “Oh, I love that team. Do you want to talk to the coach? You should talk to the coach”,’ Russini said on the podcast.
She immediately FaceTimed the coach, who ‘played all into it’ and told the office ‘you should let her go, she’s a good citizen.’
Russini admitted she was ‘desperate’ in the moment because ‘I don’t want to get a ticket. My husband is going to kill me.’
She continued: ‘I’m texting and driving. I shouldn’t be doing that I know that… I [called] a coach to get out of a ticket. Like what a nasty play but it worked.’
Danielle Rhoades Ha, a Times Company spokeswoman, called it ‘unacceptable conduct’, while it later emerged that Russini also never asked or received permission to go on that podcast, which was required.
Russini left her job at The Athletic, where she was one of the highest-paid journalists, just days after bombshell pictures emerged in early April of her appearing intimate with Vrabel at an adults-only resort in Arizona. Both are married with children.
The New York Times piece also revealed that, when the scandal first exploded, The Athletic and Russini were in talks over renewing her contract, which was set to expire at the end of June.
Russini, who earned $800,000 at The Athletic, had a statement leaked against her wishes
Vrabel and Russini were pictured appearing intimate at a resort in Arizona back in April
Russini has vehemently denied all suggestions of an affair with Vrabel, insisting in a statement announcing her resignation that she stands by every story she has published.
The Patriots coach denied it too, initially, alongside Russini’s claim that they were at the resort with friends. But subsequently, Vrabel said he had started counseling in order ‘to be the best husband, father and coach that I possibly can be’.
He even missed the third day of the NFL Draft with the Patriots as a result of his move.
The New York Times piece also revealed that, a day after the intimate photos were taken in Sedona, Russini and Vrabel spent time together at the NFL’s annual meeting in Phoenix.
It’s claimed Russini was bringing drinks to and from a small group of people that included Vrabel and other NFL coaches on the patio of the Arizona Biltmore hotel, while she would ‘periodically stop to sit on the arm of the sofa next to where Vrabel sat’.
When asked if she would be willing to give an interview for the New York Times piece, Russini responded via text message and highlighted the ‘intense scrutiny and personal attacks’ she had faced in the aftermath of the scandal.
She added: ‘This has had a significant impact on my life, both professionally and personally.’
Russini asked the reporter not to quote from the text exchange but, because no agreement had been made to keep it off the record, the quotes were included.
When informed that parts of her messages would be included, Russini is said to have objected in an email to David Perpich, the publisher of The Athletic, and two senior New York Times editors.
Meanwhile, it emerged earlier this month that unrest is growing at the New York Times with an investigation into Russini’s relationship with Vrabel still ‘weeks away’ from being published.
Steven Ginsberg, Russini’s boss at The Athletic, initially launched a defiant defense of her, before she was put on leave and ultimately resigned after Ginsberg said ‘additional information emerged’.
Russini and husband Kevin Goldschmidt were married in New Jersey in September 2020
Vrabel has been married to his wife, Jen, for over two decades and they have two children
He said an investigation would be launched but now, over two months on, Athletic staffers are said to be frustrated that the probe is dragging, as per Page Six.
Ginsberg was quoted as telling staff last week: ‘It’s going to take a few more weeks.
‘There’s just a lot to go through, and we obviously want to take our time and be careful doing that.
‘We will update everybody when we get to the end of that. We’ve also said that if we find anything that needs to be corrected, we will correct it along the way.’
News of the investigation still being weeks away from a conclusion won’t be ideal for Vrabel, either, as he builds up to the 2026 campaign starting September.
‘I promised my family, this organization and this team that I was going to give them the best version of me that I can possibly give them. In order to do so, I have committed to seeking counseling,’ Vrabel said in the aftermath of the scandal.
‘This is something that I have given a lot of thought to and is something I would advise a player to do if I was counseling them.
‘This is not an easy thing for me to admit, but it is one that I know will make me a better person. I appreciate the support that everyone has given me and promise a stronger resolve as a result.’
Russini has since been seen in public with her husband. They were spotted outside their New Jersey home together and again at a bar in central Manhattan near Madison Square Garden, before a Bruce Springsteen concert.
Mike and Jen Vrabel were married in 1999 after meeting at Ohio State, where she studied to become a dental hygienist.
