Dianna Russini has resigned from The Athletic, one week after the New York Post first published paparazzi-style photos showing the senior NFL insider and Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel holding hands and hugging at an adults-only resort in Arizona.
In a letter sent to The Athletic executive editor Steven Ginsberg that she also posted to Twitter/X, Russini cited the “media frenzy” surrounding the story as one of the reasons for her resignation. She also said that she stands “behind every story I have ever published” and noted that her contract at the outlet was set to expire this summer.
“Rather than allowing this to continue, I have decided to step aside now – before my current contract expires on June 30,” she wrote. “I do so not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refused to lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career.”
As a result of her resignation, the remainder of Russini’s contract at The Athletic won’t be paid out, sources tell Front Office Sports.
Following the initial publication of the photos last week, Russini and Vrabel—both of whom are married to other people—each downplayed the interactions, with the NFL coach calling them “completely innocent.” The Athletic also defended its star reporter, with Ginsberg issuing a statement claiming that the photos were “misleading and lack essential context.”
By the end of the week, however, the New York Times-owned outlet had changed its tune, sidelining Russini from reporting as it investigated further. In a message sent to staff in The Athletic’s Slack channel on Tuesday, Ginsberg defended how the outlet handled the situation.
“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,” he wrote. “As additional information emerged, new questions were raised that became part of our investigation.”
