The Athletic says its internal review of Dianna Russini found one thing plainly: her relationship with Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel crossed a line.
In a report released Thursday, the company said Russini’s connection with Vrabel “was in clear violation of The Athletic's standards.” The review covered roughly five months and looked at how that relationship may have intersected with her NFL coverage. While The Athletic said it found no clear bias in her reporting, it also said the relationship should have been disclosed.
The company’s investigation was wide-ranging. It reviewed 903 stories and 77 videos published under Russini’s byline, along with 204 podcast episodes and 25 off-platform appearances, plus interviews with multiple employees.
The Athletic said the issue was not whether the relationship was romantic, but that it was a breach either way and needed to be disclosed. The company pointed to photographs published by Page Six on April 7 and April 23, and by TMZ on April 23, saying they suggested a relationship that threatened The Athletic’s credibility and created the appearance of a conflict of interest.
The report also laid out how the situation unfolded. Russini first contacted company executives on April 7 to warn them about an upcoming article that “would suggest a romantic relationship between Russini and Mike Vrabel.” She acknowledged a close relationship with Vrabel but said it was “strictly professional,” and The Athletic initially stood behind her while it opened an internal review.
That review changed course when Russini resigned on April 14. The Athletic said it ended its investigation into her personal conduct after that, but kept examining her journalism.
Semel’s report said Russini should have told the company about the nature of her relationship with Vrabel so editors could decide what stories, if any, she should have handled. At the same time, the investigation said it did not find “a clear link to conclude that Russini used her platform to help promote Vrabel or help his teams during her time at The Athletic.” Still, Semel noted there were instances of her writing positively about Vrabel that, looking back, felt “awkward or even uncomfortable.”
“The vast majority of Russini's work for The Athletic had nothing to do with Vrabel, the teams he was coaching or the players the team was pursuing,” Semel wrote. “In interviews with editors and reporters with whom she worked most closely, it was clear Russini was sourced up around the NFL, not just with Vrabel or the Patriots.”
The report said there were no findings of inaccurate reporting except for one 2023 story that said Vrabel’s coaching job in Tennessee was safe less than two months before he was fired. Semel noted that “no other media [came] out as strongly about Vrabel's job security” at the time.
The Athletic said it has already added editor’s notes to two pieces of content and recommended more changes going forward, including a standards-editor meeting during onboarding, clearer conflict-of-interest guidance and tighter enforcement of sourcing standards.
Russini responded Thursday in a statement to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, saying she stands “by any and all reporting [she's] ever done in [her] career.”
Russini left The Athletic in April after photos surfaced of her and Vrabel at an Arizona hotel resort, prompting speculation about an extramarital affair. She denied those rumors and said the images were “misleading and lack essential context.”
After the company opened its investigation, she resigned on April 14. A week later, Page Six published additional photos that appeared to show Russini and Vrabel kissing at a New York City bar in 2020.
In Other News...
Bruins May Have Found A Draft Sleeper Worth Watching Closely
Matvei Kotkov is already giving the Bruins something to track after their 2026 third-round pick opened his professional career with a goal in his first Kontinental Hockey League game for Yaroslavl Lokomotiv. The Russian forward, taken 104th overall, arrived with some buzz after a strong MHL season that included playoff success and postseason MVP honors, and his early jump to the KHL only adds to the intrigue around a player Boston clearly believes has more upside than his draft slot suggests.
Kotkovs profile has the kind of traits that tend to translate if everything comes together, with evaluators pointing to his shot and his speed as the obvious selling points. The question is whether the rest of his game will catch up quickly enough, because the same reports that praise his skill also note the areas he still has to clean up as a pro, especially when the game gets heavier along the walls and the physical battles start to matter more. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Prospect Matvei Kotkov Just Flashed Why Hes Worth Watching
Matvei Kotkov is starting to give the Bruins something to track beyond draft-night optimism. The Boston prospect, picked in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, has already shown well in junior competition and at Bruins Developmental Camp, and now he is beginning to translate that promise into pro production with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL.
For a fourth-round pick, every small step matters, especially when it comes in a league that can test young players against older competition every night. Kotkovs first goal of the season is the kind of early marker Bruins fans and development staff will keep circling, because it offers another reminder that there may be more upside here than his draft slot suggested. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Prospects In College Suddenly Matter More Than Fans Realize
The Bruins college pipeline is starting to look more important than a simple long-term project, especially with several prospects now in key development spots for the 2026-27 season. Will Moore is back at Boston College after a freshman year that showed flashes of why Boston invested a second-round pick in him, Ryan Walsh continues his run at Cornell, and Cooper Simpson has arrived at North Dakota with the kind of offensive rsum that made him one of the more intriguing young names in the system.
For Bruins fans, the appeal is in how different these paths are and how much each one could matter down the road. Moore is still learning to translate his skill against older competition, Walsh is grinding through the Ivy League route, and Simpson brings a scorers pedigree from the USHL that could give Boston a more dangerous option if his college game keeps moving in the right direction. The Bruins do not need these players to be finished products yet, but the fact that they are all in meaningful college roles makes their progress worth following closely. [Read more 🡒]