The Athletic’s review of Dianna Russini’s work concludes she was ‘noncompliant’ with standards

Ex-NFL insider Dianna Russini violated The Athletic’s standards because of her undisclosed relationship with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, the publication’s lengthy inquiry concluded.

“Specifically, when it comes to The Athletic’s standards, Russini was noncompliant,” the report said.

The inquiry, publicly released Thursday, did not determine the full extent of the Russini-Vrabel relationship, which has drawn speculation after a media firestorm this spring. It also found scant evidence that it impacted Russini’s or The Athletic’s reporting on Vrabel and his teams.

Russini resigned from The Athletic in April following pictures published by the New York Post’s Page Six that showed Russini and Vrabel together at a Sedona, Ariz., resort. The two were the only ones in the photos, which captured them holding hands, hugging, and, in one instance, sitting together in a pool. The whole episode, from the pictures being published to her resignation, took place over one week.

“We neither completed an investigation nor reached any conclusion about the nature of the full relationship between Vrabel and Russini, but the totality of the public photographs are enough to conclude a violation of company policy,” the report said.

Before the Page Six photos, Russini, 43, was considered a star reporter, dueling with the top NFL insiders for scoops during her nearly three years at The Athletic. She joined the platform after eight years at ESPN.

When reached for comment on the report, Russini declined to be interviewed, but gave a statement saying, “I stand by any and all reporting I’ve ever done in my career.”

A spokesperson for The Athletic declined further comment.

Mike Semel, The Athletic’s editorial director for standards and editorial quality, conducted the full review of Russini’s work regarding Vrabel.

In the inquiry, which lasted nearly five months since the announcement of an investigation, Semel wrote that he viewed 903 stories and 77 videos published on The Athletic’s site that Russini either authored or contributed to. Semel watched or listened to 204 of Russini’s “Scoop City” podcasts for The Athletic and 25 off-platform appearances in which Russini represented the company. He also studied 75 stories by The Athletic of events involving Vrabel and his teams and compared them to coverage in other publications.

Semel said he interviewed “approximately 14” Athletic staffers, who had worked with Russini. Russini was not asked to participate in the review of her work, according to a source briefed on the process who was not authorized to speak publicly about the report.

While the full nature of the Russini-Vrabel relationship is still unknown, the vast majority of Russini’s work for The Athletic had nothing to do with Vrabel, the report said. Of the 903 pieces, around 5 percent were in some way about Vrabel or his teams. Of the around 46 pieces that mentioned Vrabel or his teams, nearly a third were transactional moves about trades or hires. None of them were scoops, meaning The Athletic did not report the stories exclusively.

Semel said he did not investigate Russini’s personal conduct because she was no longer an employee of the company, but he continued to examine her journalism.

“Russini should have disclosed to The Athletic the nature of her relationship with Vrabel to allow editors to assess the kinds of stories on which she should have been working, if any,” Semel concluded. “She did not.”

While the inquiry reached no conclusion on whether the Russini-Vrabel relationship was romantic, Semel noted that Russini, after Page Six confronted her about the photos in April, waited two days before telling her editors and managers.

The Athletic’s executive editor Steven Ginsberg initially supported Russini in a statement as she denied there was anything untoward.

“The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day,” Russini said in a statement upon the publication of the Page Six story in April.

As more information came in, The Athletic, which is owned by The New York Times, adjusted its stance. Shortly after, The Athletic suspended Russini from reporting. She resigned a week after the Page Six story was published.

Regarding the initial reaction, the inquiry found that Russini “told a story to explain the photos that did not align with the facts, raising issues of trust.”

Although Russini’s conduct was deemed below standards, the report found limited evidence that she favored Vrabel in her writing or analysis.

“Most of what Russini wrote about Vrabel or the Patriots was transactional and newsy,” Semel wrote. “In addition, I’ve not found a clear link to conclude that Russini used her platform to promote Vrabel or help his teams during her time at The Athletic.”

Semel did note that there were a few times Russini wrote glowingly about Vrabel “that in hindsight are awkward or even uncomfortable.”

In a column last October, she said that Vrabel returned to face his former team, the Tennessee Titans, as “New England’s hero.” Semel did not find Russini’s tone for the struggling Titans and the resurgent Patriots much different than other outlets’ coverage. She was also effusive about Vrabel on a few occasions on her “Scoop City” podcast, Semel said.

During her nearly three years with the platform, The Athletic published three in-depth stories on Vrabel, Semel said. Russini had a byline on one of them, helped another reporter gain access to another and had nothing to do with a third.

For an inside story about Vrabel’s gap year between his Titans and Patriots head coaching jobs by reporter Zack Rosenblatt in January 2025, Semel concluded it “likely would not have happened” without Russini’s involvement. Rosenblatt came up with the idea and asked Russini to set up a meeting with Vrabel. Russini arranged it but had nothing to do with the story that Rosenblatt had a solo byline on, according to Semel.

Russini also co-bylined an analysis with Joe Rexrode in January 2024. Rexrode, the inquiry said, obtained the key information for the story. Semel said that Russini should have disclosed her relationship with Vrabel for the piece, though it “was straight down the middle and fact-based.”

In December 2023, in Russini’s “What I’m hearing” column, there was an item buried deep inside about the reasoning behind Vrabel’s Titans going for a sabermetric-based two-point conversion.

In all, Semel recommended an “Editor’s Note” be placed on this column and on three videos.

“Of the 77 videos that featured Russini, three were specific to Vrabel,” Semel wrote. “Two were done at a joint preseason practice between the Vikings and Patriots in August 2025. They were light-hearted (“50 seconds of questions for Vrabel’s 50th birthday” and “What annoys Mike Vrabel?”).

(She similarly did quick takes with Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell at the same event.)

“The third was also somewhat light-hearted about a training camp fight between the Patriots and Commanders. In it, Russini discusses Vrabel’s role in breaking up the fight, and he comes across as somewhat heroic. Given the New York Post photographs, I recommend an Editor’s Note be appended to those videos.”

The report also concluded that “Russini’s work was seldom reliant on Vrabel as a source or a subject. In interviews with reporters with whom she worked most closely, it was clear Russini was sourced around the NFL, not just with Vrabel or the Patriots.” According to the report, there was no suspicion that Russini was closer to Vrabel than anyone else.

“But, of course, the appearances surrounding her relationship with Vrabel undermine our audience’s confidence in her impartiality,” Semel wrote.

In his conclusion, Semel recommended adding a 30-minute review with the Standards Editor for any onboarding newsroom employee to clarify The Athletic’s conflict of interest guidelines. Hence, they are “more exact” and to “clarify and strongly enforce The Athletic’s sourcing standards.”