Diana Russini has revealed she spent “months” laying low in her New Jersey home thinking about “the person I want to be” following her Mike Vrabel scandal.
Russini—who resigned from The Athletic after Page Six unveiled photos of her and the New England Patriots head coach cozying up to each other at an Arizona hotel—made her return to sports media with her new show, “The Russini Report.”
“Over the last few months, I have had a lot of time to think about my life and my priorities and the person that I want to be moving forward, and being home in New Jersey with my husband and our two little boys and being truly present, it gave me so much perspective that I didn’t even know I needed,” Russini said on the first episode of her BetUS TV show, which aired on Nov. 11.
The series did experience some technical difficulties, which the sports media star attributed to the “record-breaking audience.”
Days before her show aired, Russini told People that the series will cover “about everything I know that’s going on in the NFL, along with a lot of my opinions,” adding that she wasn’t “really allowed” to do this before.
She added, “The best way to describe what the last six months were like for me is heartbreaking.”
Speaking about both her and her husband Kevin Goldschmidt‘s decision to delete their social media profile following news of the scandal, she told the outlet, “This was a runaway train, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Once we realized nothing was going to stop this, it became unhealthy for us to read it because it wasn’t helping us heal. It was piling on and adding to what we were already dealing with.”
Despite the turmoil, Russini credited the NFL for checking in on her and reminding of her talents.
“The absolute best part of this situation has been the loyalty the NFL has shown me. They checked in with me almost daily while I wasn’t working to make sure that I was staying connected to football, to check on me as a person and to just see how I was doing,” she said.
Russini also revealed that many players went out of their way to message her.
“I felt like players were texting and calling me to say, ‘Get back to work, it’s time,’ and added, “I think it’s pretty poetic that here I was all these years telling the story about these players going through adversity, and then they became sort of the people that I was learning from during this,” she added.
Russini’s show came seven months after Vrabel announced that he was skipping the third day of the NFL Draft so that he could focus on his family and “seek counseling” after the images were published.
Despite previously insisting that the photos of himself and Russini—in which they were seen hugging, holding hands, and soaking in a pool together—were taken out of context, Vrabel, 50, then changed his tune and confirmed to ESPN that he will take a short break from coaching the Patriots in order to undergo counseling, and spend time with his wife, Jen Vrabel, and their two sons.
“As I said the other day, I promised my family, this organization and this team that I was going to give them the best version of me that I can possibly give them,” he told ESPN in April.
“In order to do so, I have committed to seeking counseling, starting this weekend. This is something that I have given a lot of thought to and is something I would advise a player to do if I was counseling them.
“I have always wanted to lead by example, and I believe this is what I have to do to be the best husband, father and coach that I possibly can be.
“This is not an easy thing for me to admit, but it is one that I know will make me a better person. I appreciate the support that everyone has given me and promise a stronger resolve as a result.”
At the time, ESPN noted that Vrabel and his family spent the weekend “outside of Massachusetts,” where he has been based since the start of 2025, when he was named as the new head coach of the Patriots, but did not specify a location.
He returned to his position 48 hours later.
The father of two previously commented on the photos of himself and Russini. Speaking at a press conference in April, Vrabel admitted that he’d had to have “some difficult conversations with people I care about—my family, the organization, the coaches, the players.”
“Those have been positive and productive,” he went on. “We believe that in order to be successful on and off the field you have to make good decisions. That includes me, that starts we me. We never want our actions to negatively affect the team. We never want to be the cause of a distraction.”
Shortly before joining the Patriots, Vrabel and his spouse sold their longtime Nashville-area abode for $4.8 million in October 2024, having purchased the property for $1.9 million in 2018.
The property, which is situate on 2 wooded acres, had been built in 2017, and featured six bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.
However, seven months before selling that property, he picked up another Nashville dwelling, a six-bedroom, four-bath home in Brentwood, TN, for $1.78 million, as first reported by the New York Post.
That property spans across 4,065 square feet and was built in 1970.
Vrabel’s personal life was been thrust into the headlines of late after Page Six released photographs that showed the Patriots coach and Russini spending time together at the Ambiente in Sedona, where two-person bungalows cost up to $2,160.
According to the outlet, Vrabel and Russini—who has been married to Goldschmidt since 2020—enjoyed breakfast on the patio at 10:30am on March 28, followed by an hour spent in the hot tub.
They were also seen on the roof of the hotel, which offers sweeping views of the Red Rock formations. According to the source, the pair even danced together at one point.
Vrabel initially told the New York Post of the images: “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable. This doesn’t deserve any further response.”
Russini also shared her own statement, noting, “The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day. Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.”
However, on April 14, Russini announced that she had stepped down from her role at the New York Times’ Athletic, publicly releasing her resignation letter that she had sent to executive editor Steven Ginsberg.
“I have covered the NFL with professionalism and dedication throughout my career, and I stand behind every story I have ever published. When the Page Six item first appeared, The Athletic supported me unequivocally, expressed confidence in my work and pride in my journalism. For that I am grateful,” she began.
“In the days that followed, unfortunately, commentators in various media have engaged in self-feeding speculation that is simply unmoored from the facts.
“Moreover, this media frenzy is hurtling forward without regard for the review process The Athletic is trying to complete. It continues to escalate, fueled by repeated leaks, and I have no interest in submitting to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I am willing to accept.
“Rather than allowing this to continue, I have decided to step aside now—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.”
