‘She Didn’t Commit a Crime’ — Media Analyst Defends Dianna Russini’s Return to Sports Media After Mike Vrabel Scandal

By admin — In News — November 10, 2026

   ​Mike Vrabel and Dianna RussiniDianna Russini’s second act in sports media begins Wednesday, and Jimmy Traina is in her corner. Offshore sportsbook BetUS announced Monday that Russini will host “The Russini Report,” a weekly NFL show premiering Nov. 11 at noon ET. The show comes nearly seven months after she resigned from The Athletic amid the fallout over photos of her with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.Notably, the media analyst kept his verdict simple on his “Traina Thoughts” podcast: “She wants a second chance. I have zero issue with that.”But he paired that backing with puzzlement over how much attention her comeback is drawing.Jimmy Traina Backs Dianna Russini’s Return to Sports Media After Mike Vrabel ScandalTraina began with the conversation surrounding Russini, saying “the reaction to all of this baffles me on so many levels,” before turning to whether she should be working at all.His answer left no room for doubt. “I think Dianna Russini has every right to come back and work. I have no issues with her working again. There’s no reason why she should never be allowed to work again. She didn’t commit a crime here. She didn’t murder anyone.”The saga began in April, when the New York Post published photos of Russini and Vrabel hugging and holding hands at an Arizona resort. Both pushed back on the implications of the photos in statements at the time.Vrabel called the interaction innocent, while Russini said the images lacked the context of a larger group that had been together that day. However, Russini resigned that month from The Athletic, where she had worked as an NFL insider since 2023. Vrabel, still the Patriots’ head coach, missed the draft’s third day and announced plans to seek counseling.SET YOUR LINEUPS:PFN’s Free Fantasy Start/Sit OptimizerEarlier, The Athletic’s standards report in September found the relationship was a violation of company policy that Russini should have disclosed so editors could decide which stories she worked on. The report made no attempt to say whether the two were romantically involved, though it suggested adding editors’ notes to three of her videos and one of her stories about Vrabel.Where Traina pushed back was on the spotlight itself. “I guess I’m surprised by the level of interest in what she does next. She’s not Adam Schefter, and she’s not Ian Rapoport. I don’t mean that in a harsh way, but the amount of interest in where she works and what she provides seems off to me.”Traina also drew a line between the premiere and everything after it. “Maybe people are interested in the car-wreck aspect of it. I’m not. Obviously, her first episode has to address all this, and it’ll get massive numbers. We’ll all watch it, read the transcripts, watch the clips, and talk about it. But after that first episode, I don’t know what the big curiosity is about.”PREDICT THE NFL SEASON:PFN’s Free NFL Playoff PredictorEven so, his final word wa