Dianna Russini Once Revealed How Facetime Call With an NFL Head Coach Got Her Out of a Traffic Ticket

It was well known that The Athletic/The New York Times was investigating the Dianna Russini scandal, involving New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. After staying silent for a long time, the Times unleashed a massive report that could prove detrimental to Russini.

The article opens with a story that Russini told in a January 2026 podcast appearance. A police officer had stopped Russini for texting and driving. Both her young sons were inside the car with her. Russini told the officer that Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott had been fired, and she quickly wanted to break the news.

To avoid getting a ticket, she asked the officer if he would like to speak with the coach of his favorite team. Russini said:

I FaceTime the head coach. [The] head coach is in his office. He said, ‘What’s up?’ I go, ‘I just got pulled over, and I just wanted you to meet my friend, Officer Joe.’

The coach told the officer to let Russini go. She recalled what the coach said:

You should let her go, she’s a good citizen.

The Times wrote that the coach in question is not Mike Vrabel. They don’t know the identity of the coach either. A spokeswoman called Russini’s actions “unacceptable conduct.”

Tony Farmer, who has relentlessly pursued the Vrabel-Russini scandal from the day the New York Post published the compromising photos. Besides Vrabel and the Bills, Farmer also ruled out the Jets.

So it's not the Bills or Jets ….and NYT said today it's also not Vrabel … so then there are 29 coaches it should be. Beat writers should ask each head coach.

— Tony Farmer (@Tonysmarkettips) June 24, 2026

Dianna Russini waited two days to inform The New York Times about the Sedona photos

The Post released Russini’s photos with Vrabel on April 9. It has been well established that she coordinated with Vrabel before contacting the Post. The Times article supports that.

However, she waited two extra days to contact her bosses at the Times. What’s fascinating is that she didn’t call her immediate supervisor but went directly to Meredith Kopit Levien, the CEO of The Times.

Levien instructed her to speak with Steven Ginsberg, executive editor of The Athletic, and David Perpich, publisher of The Athletic and vice chairman of the Times. The Times writes that people in the upper echelons of the company were unaware that The Post had contacted Russini two days earlier.

Ginsberg had only a few hours to look through the photos before the Post published them. Interestingly, he only looked at one of them and denied that it was Russini. The Times stood beside its exceptional NFL reporter/insider until more photos surfaced. That’s when an internal investigation was launched against her, leading to her resignation.

What do you make of Mike Vrabel's former teammate Ted Johnson "liking" my article saying five new questions have been raised since the NYT article?

Below are the 5 questions:

1.) Who was the NFL head coach Russini called to help get out of the texting-while-driving ticket?… pic.twitter.com/lsPR8RIRjH

— Tony Farmer (@Tonysmarkettips) June 25, 2026

It’s intriguing that Ginsberg took a glance at just one photo and didn’t think twice to question its authenticity. The Times article is not just a dissection of Russini’s apparent colorful career as a reporter, but it’s also a terrible look for the Times, too.

Most people assumed the story would die down once the NFL concluded the draft, but it’s still relevant. And it will likely remain in that way until The Times releases all of its findings or Russini comes clean.

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