Dianna Russini claims an NFL player has been sending her ‘motivational’ 5am text messages following the scandal that derailed her career and personal life.
Russini finally launched her NFL comeback on Monday, opening up on a ‘nightmare’ six months that saw her resign from The Athletic amid questions over an alleged affair with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel.
The NFL insider has unveiled her new one-hour show entitled ‘The Russini Report,’ which will stream on Costa Rica-based BetUS’s website and social media accounts.
Russini told People that many NFL figures have rallied around her since the scandal broke, including one unnamed player who sends her texts on his way to practice.
In the messages, it is claimed, the player would ask how she is working to better herself and remind her ‘you have to stay strong through hard times.’
She told People: ‘I’m using a lot of that as motivation, and it’s why I’m so energized… it’s why I’m not scared to get back in because I know the people that I cover are welcoming me back with open arms.’
Dianna Russini has launched her NFL comeback and opened up on her ‘nightmare’ six months
Russini claims an NFL player has been sending her ‘motivational’ 5am text messages
![She resigned from her position at The Athletic after the Mike Vrabel affair scandal erupted [Source: Instagram/@DMRussini]](https://i.dailymail.com/1s/2026/11/10/04/111594977-16279501-She_resigned_from_her_position_at_The_Athletic_after_the_Mike_Vr-a-6_1794283866452.jpg)
She resigned from her position at The Athletic after the Mike Vrabel affair scandal erupted [Source: Instagram/@DMRussini]
Russini said she has received ‘loyalty’ from figures across the NFL including owners, agents, general managers, coaches and even ‘star quarterbacks.’
‘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.
‘I felt like players were texting and calling me to say: “Get back to work, it’s time…” 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: ‘They didn’t just call the week after things came out, they called all the time just to say: “Let’s go!”‘
The first two guests on Russini’s show will be Pro Football Hall of Famer and two-time Super Bowl champion Bill Parcells and radio personality Damon Amendolara.
Announcing the news, Russini told People how the fallout of the scandal and her subsequent downfall left her ‘heartbroken.’
‘The best way to describe what the last six months were like for me is heartbreaking,’ Russini said. ‘At the beginning of this, it was a nightmare.’
Russini added that after a month of fallout, she and her husband, Shake Shack executive Paul Goldschmidt, deleted their social media accounts and shut themselves away.
Russini was a reporter for ESPN covering the Tennessee Titans when Vrabel was head coach
‘The lies became so out of control,’ Russini continued. ‘This was a runaway train, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.’
Russini’s high-profile media career was thrown into chaos back in April, when photos surfaced of her at an adults-only Arizona resort with Vrabel.
Although both Russini and Vrabel, who are both married with children, denied having an affair, the photos sparked a wave of speculation regarding the nature of their relationship.
A string of further photos later emerged of the pair, including pictures showing them kissing at a New York bar, reportedly in March 2020.
