If Dianna Russini doesn’t want to wait to find more work, she won’t have to.
Four days before her decision to resign from The Athletic, her former ESPN colleague Jon “Stugotz” Wiener said on his radio show that Russini, 43, can come work with him.
“I’ll tell you this on the front end of any Dianna Russini discussion I’m going to have. If The Athletic gets rid of her, she’ll be sitting right next to me and Izzy doing the show,” Stugotz said on the Friday, April 10 episode of his Fox Sports radio show, Stugotz and Company. “I support my friends, I don’t bail on my friends, especially at their worst professional time in their history. I don’t do that to them, OK?”
Russini worked at ESPN from 2015 to 2023, when she left to become The Athletic’s NFL insider. Though the publication initially stuck by her when Page Six published photos of her with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel at an Arizona resort, the company later launched an investigation into their relationship.
Both Russini and Vrabel, 50, are married to other people, and they have insisted the photos are innocent. Russini also said they were there with friends who were not pictured at the time, declining to name names.
She resigned on Tuesday, April 14, before The Athletic’s investigation could conclude, though she maintains there was nothing untoward about her relationship with Vrabel.
“I have covered the NFL with professionalism and dedication throughout my career, and I stand behind every story I have ever published,” Russini wrote in her resignation letter, which she shared via social media on Tuesday. “When the Page Six item first appeared, The Athletic supported me unequivocally, expressed confidence in my work and pride in my journalism. For that I am grateful. In the days that followed, unfortunately, commentators in various media have engaged in self-feeding speculation that is simply unmoored from the facts.”
She added, “Moreover, this media frenzy is hurtling forward without regard for the review process The Athletic is trying to complete. It continues to escalate, fueled by repeated leaks, and I have no interest in submitting to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I am willing to accept.”
The Athletic’s executive editor, Steven Ginsberg, sent a memo to staff on Tuesday, which has since been shared online. In it, Ginsberg says that the investigation will continue despite Russini’s resignation.
“When this situation was brought to our attention last week, there were clear concerns, but we received a detailed explanation and it was our instinct to support and defend a colleague while we continued to review the matter,” the memo read. “As additional information emerged, new questions were raised that became part of our investigation.”
Ginsberg declined to reveal what additional information he had gathered.
“Amid all of this, I want to sincerely thank everyone for continuing to produce the best sports report in the business,” he concluded. “I’m looking forward to focusing on our journalism and continuing our momentum.”
