NFL reporter Dianna Russini made questionable comments about her marriage two months before photographs showing her holding hands with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel surfaced.
In a February 5 episode of the Stugotz and Company podcast, Russini discussed how exhausting it was working in sports media in the days leading up to this year’s Super Bowl Sunday on February 8.
“I wasn’t in shape for this,” she said of her busy schedule. “Free agency, you rev up — you’re ready for it. Like: ‘I’m going to be committed to this for 12 days. I’m not going to sleep, I’m not going to eat, my family’s gonna hate me, my husband’s gonna threaten divorce,’ but we signed up for this. This… I was not ready.”
Russini, 43 — who is the New York Times’ top NFL reporter — then continued to joke about splitting from her husband of five years, Shake Shack executive Kevin Goldschmidt. (Vrabel, 50, has been married to wife Jen since 1999, and they share sons Tyler, 25, and Carter, 24.)
“We’re getting divorced at the end of the year,” Russini said jokingly on the podcast. “We’re going through it.”
She then added that Goldschmidt — with whom she shares two children — “doesn’t even know who I am right now,” explaining: “We’ve never been more disconnected in our lives.”
“Our text messages look like two robots,” she said.
Instagram/Dianna Russini
Russini said that her mother “lets me know my marriage is falling apart,” adding that her mom once told her: “I’m starting to think he’s got a girlfriend. And you know what… Good for him!”
“[My mom is] out here throwing things at my head,” Russini said. “Now I’m wondering, ‘Uh, that one girl in his office is really pretty. Shoot. This makes sense. I’m going to call him later — naked.’”
After Page Six published the photos on Tuesday, April 7, of Russini and Vrabel appearing to hold hands and embrace on March 28 at a luxury resort in Arizona, the NFL coach told the publication that the pictures “show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable.”
Another video went viral after the recent report. In a clip shared by College Transfer Portal on X from ESPN morning show Get Up in 2021, Russini — who was comparing her relationship to those who overshare on social media — said, “I’m married to someone average. I don’t post a lot about him. If I was married to someone beautiful, I’d over-post too.”
When asked moments later to clarify her comments, she explained, “We’re average together.”
“And you know what the worst part is,” she added. “He sent me a text during that segment — not watching ‘cause he actually works for a living — and he said, ‘Good luck today. Be great on Get Up.’”
“So the guy’s got a heart of gold, and here I am on national TV killing him,” she said, laughing. “Look, we’re average together, but he makes me above average because he married me. I am so sorry, I need to really stop killing my husband on television. I’m going to be divorced by Christmas!”
Russini also denied any impropriety with Vrabel, saying in a statement, “Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.”
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