{"id":207505,"date":"2026-04-23T18:37:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/207505\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:37:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:37:36","slug":"espn-dragged-into-dianna-russini-mike-vrabel-drama-with-shocking-new-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/207505\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN dragged into Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel drama with shocking new photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WorldWide Leader may now be tainted by the biggest drama in the sports media world.<\/p>\n

The Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel scandal now spans the reporter\u2019s time at ESPN after Page Six published Thursday newly obtained photos<\/a> of the two kissing at a Manhattan bar in 2020.<\/p>\n

Russini was with ESPN from 2015-23 \u2014 closely covering Vrabel\u2019s time as Titans coach from 2018-23 \u2014 before leaving for The Athletic.<\/p>\n

Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel were \u201call over each other\u201d at a bar in New York City back in 2020, as seen in new pics exclusively obtained by Page Six.
\n \u00a9 Page Six<\/p>\n

At the time, Russini was engaged to be married.<\/p>\n

Vrabel was \u2014 and still is \u2014 married to his wife, Jen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were kissing and they were all over each other,\u201d an eyewitness told Page Six of the new photos. \u201cHe had a ring on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Athletic supported Russini unequivocally when Page Six first published photos of her on April 7<\/a> with the current Patriots coach at an adults-only resort in Arizona last month.<\/p>\n

The outlet later announced it would be investigating Russini\u2019s reporting, and the NFL insider then resigned from the website.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen 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,\u201d Athletic Executive Editor Steven Ginsberg told staff in a letter after Russini\u2019s resignation. <\/p>\n

Dianna Russini working a Chiefs-Steelers game in 2018. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mike Vrabel (l) and Dianna Russini (r) in 2020. Dianna Russini\/Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cAs additional information emerged, new questions were raised that became part of our investigation. We will continue a standards review of Dianna\u2019s work that [the Athletic\u2019s Editorial Director for Standards and Editorial Quality] Mike Semel is leading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russini defended her reporting in her resignation letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have covered the NFL with professionalism and dedication throughout my career, and I stand behind every story I have ever published\u2026\u201d she said. \u201cI have decided to step aside now \u2014 before my current contract expires on June 30. I do so not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dianna Russini worked for ESPN at the time. \u00a9 Page Six<\/p>\n

Vrabel spoke on the subject for the first time Tuesday, saying he discussed the matter with the team.<\/p>\n

He then announced Wednesday night that he would miss the third day of the NFL draft<\/a> on Saturday and would be seeking counseling.<\/p>\n

ESPN declined to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The WorldWide Leader may now be tainted by the biggest drama in the sports media world. The Dianna…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3080,30756,9,11,10,22,12258,46065,319,2085,6475,771],"class_list":{"0":"post-207505","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-espn","9":"tag-mike-vrabel","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-headlines","12":"tag-new-york-news","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nfl-draft","15":"tag-nfl-draft-2026","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-sports-entertainment","18":"tag-sports-media","19":"tag-tennessee-titans"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}