Someone Dug Up Dianna Russini’s Article On Mike Vrabel Less Than 2 Months Before He Was Fired — It’s Raising Even More Questions
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
Dianna Russini had a whole lot of words published for The Athletic before stepping down from her post as the outlet’s top NFL newsbreaker last month.
It appears some of them may come back to bite her.
Tony Farmer, A.K.A. the bane of Russini’s existence, has uncovered yet another piece to the puzzle following the bombshell report and accompanying photos that turned out to be her undoing in the media space, at least for the time being.
The podcast host has taken to X to share a screenshot of an old Russini report stating, in no uncertain terms, that the Titans would not fire Vrabel.
Vrabel’s performance as head coach in Tennessee did not appear to warrant a sacking, so folks were puzzled when the team announced that they were parting ways on January 9, 2024.
Russini had cited “high-ranking Titans officials” in her report less than two months prior. She claimed they told her that everyone in the franchise believed Vrabel was the right man for the job and that they hoped to keep him long term.
“OMG – look what I just found,” Farmer tweeted on Thursday. “Dianna Russini wrote this just 47 days before Mike Vrabel was fired and 69 days before TMZ’s photos suggest they were gambling together in a Mississippi casino.”
Farmer had some questions. They were as follows:
2.) If Vrabel was in the Titans long-term plans on Nov. 23, why did they fire him weeks later? The Titans were 3-7 when this was written, so don’t say it was the losing.
3.) Is there a secret reason why Mike Vrabel was fired? “It’s not happening” is pretty emphatic for someone who we now know was very close to Vrabel and, according to her, had “multiple conversations with high-ranking Titans officials. Why Was Mike Vrabel fired?
4.) Is it possible this was a “puff piece” to help Vrabel keep his job? Russini was flattering and reminded her audience in the article that Vrabel is the 2021 Coach of the Year.
4.) How many times does a reporter have to be wrong before people start to question their reporting?
Dianna Russini Got Comfortable With Mike Vrabel
Russini and Vrabel were indeed photographed together at a casino shortly after the latter was fired.
According to TMZ, the individual who took the photo believed Vrabel was there with his wife. They did not recognize Russini and made the assumption based on how they behaved at the time.
“While they didn’t see any PDA, the witness said the two were quite comfortable together, drinking and chatting with other gamblers … and when Vrabel left the roulette table to play some blackjack, Russini followed … but sat across from him,” TMZ reported.
The story has cooled over the past couple of weeks.
According to one journalist, reporters mostly tiptoed around Vrabel when he addressed them at Patriots OTAs late last month.
Farmer would definitely love to get the head coach in a room.
