Athletic Faults Russini Over Hidden Vrabel Relationship

The Athletic said Thursday that its former NFL reporter Dianna Russini broke the newsroom's rules by not disclosing her relationship with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel — but that it found no clear evidence the relationship bent her reporting.

"Russini's relationship with Vrabel was in clear violation of The Athletic's standards," wrote Mike Semel, the outlet's editorial director for standards and editorial quality. "Regardless of whether the relationship was romantic, it was a breach and should have been disclosed."

The report, published on the company's website, closes a nearly five-month review at the New York Times-owned publication. It drew no conclusion about the full extent of the Russini-Vrabel relationship.

What the review covered

Semel reviewed 903 stories and 77 videos carrying Russini's byline, contributor line or a mention of her reporting, plus 204 episodes of a podcast she co-hosted and appearances she made on other outlets while representing The Athletic.

He interviewed Athletic staff but did not speak to Russini, according to a source with direct knowledge of the investigation cited by ESPN. That person said The Athletic had no access to Russini's phone and that the report was confined to her publicly available work.

On the central question of favoritism, Semel wrote: "I've not found a clear link to conclude that Russini used her platform to help promote Vrabel or help his teams during her time at The Athletic. That said, there are examples of Russini writing glowingly of Vrabel that in hindsight are awkward or even uncomfortable."

He found no inaccuracies in her reporting. The report flagged one 2023 story in which Russini reported that Vrabel's job coaching the Tennessee Titans was safe — less than two months before he was fired. "No other media came out as strongly about Vrabel's job security," the report said, while noting it was difficult to prove Russini had not spoken to Titans sources or that the story was wrong when published.

Semel recommended editor's notes be added to two items: a "lighthearted" video in which Russini called Vrabel "somewhat heroic" for breaking up a training camp fight, and a column in which information was not properly attributed.