The Athletic is internally probing senior NFL insider Dianna Russini’s explanation of photographs showing her with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel at a luxury Arizona resort, sources told Front Office Sports on Friday.
The images, published Tuesday by the New York Post’s Page Six, were taken in late March at the adults-only Ambiente resort in Sedona. They depict Russini and Vrabel side by side in a pool and hot tub, and holding hands and hugging on the rooftop of a private bungalow.
Both are married to other people and have two children each. They have described the encounter as entirely platonic.
“The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day,” Russini said in a statement provided to Front Office Sports through The Athletic. “Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.”
Vrabel told Page Six the interaction was “completely innocent and any suggestion otherwise is laughable.”
The Athletic’s executive editor, Steven Ginsberg, defended Russini in a statement, calling the photos “misleading and lack essential context.”
“These were public interactions in front of many people,” Ginsberg said. “Dianna is a premier journalist covering the NFL and we’re proud to have her at The Athletic.”
But sources told Front Office Sports that the outlet is pressing Russini for proof to support her claim that others were present with them at the resort. No public evidence backing the account of a larger group has surfaced in the days since the photos were published.
Russini has not published any stories for The Athletic since the photos appeared but posted an article written by a colleague on X on Thursday. Her contract with the outlet expires in August.
It is highly unlikely proof exists because the photographer who took the photos basically stalked Vrabel all day, if there were other people around he would have informed the people he was selling the photos to.
The photos were reportedly shopped to multiple outlets as BSO reported on my live stream and FOS confirmed in an article the following day.
Say it with me…….
ROB NEVER LIED TO YOU!!!
As I told you yesterday afternoon. https://t.co/P1qhwKc33b pic.twitter.com/5ipBuB1u4v
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) April 10, 2026
Russini, 43, and Vrabel, 50, have not commented further.
Flip the pages for the resort photos…
