New bodycam footage has revealed the toe-curling moment Dianna Russini name-drops Kevin O’Connell of the Minnesota Vikings to a police officer in a bid to get out of a traffic ticket.
However, unlike the former NFL insider alleged on a podcast earlier this year, the footage does not appear to show a FaceTime call between O’Connell and the officer took place.
Back in February, Russini revealed on ‘Stugotz and Company’ that she was pulled over by police weeks before for texting while driving with her two young sons in the car.
She claimed she told the officer she was using her phone because the Buffalo Bills had just fired head coach Sean McDermott and she was trying to report the news.
But, she added, she managed to prevent a ticket by getting the head coach of the police officer’s favorite team to speak with him on FaceTime.
Footage shows that when the officer tells Russini he is a Vikings fan she flaunts her messages with O’Connell. But it does not show that a FaceTime call between O’Connell and the officer took place.
The Daily Mail has contacted the Minnesota Vikings for comment.
Footage shows Dianna Russini name-dropping Kevin O’Connell to try and get out of a ticket
Russini appears to show a police officer messages with O’Connell but there’s no FaceTime call
Russini left her job as an NFL reporter after intimate pictures emerged of her and Mike Vrabel
It is another desperately embarrassing moment for the former NFL insider, whose world was turned upside down by her affair scandal with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.
An investigation into Russini and Vrabel’s alleged relationship was published by the New York Times on June 24.
Not only did it detail how Russini was paid close to $800,000-a-year by the New York Times-owned Athletic before her career collapsed, but it also included comments from her that she wanted to remain private.
However, it also told the story of how bosses at The Athletic were unhappy with her for sharing the story of her allegedly using her relationship with O’Connell to get out of a driving ticket.
‘So he names the team [that he is a fan of] and I go, “Oh, I love that team. Do you want to talk to the coach? You should talk to the coach”,’ Russini claimed on the podcast.
She said she immediately FaceTimed the coach, who ‘played all into it’ and told the officer ‘you should let her go, she’s a good citizen.’
Russini admitted she was ‘desperate’ in the moment because ‘I don’t want to get a ticket. My husband is going to kill me.’
She continued: ‘I’m texting and driving. I shouldn’t be doing that I know that… I [called] a coach to get out of a ticket. Like what a nasty play but it worked.’
Danielle Rhoades Ha, a Times Company spokeswoman, called it ‘unacceptable conduct’, while it later emerged that Russini also never asked or received permission to go on that podcast, which was required.
In reality the footage, which lasts for just over seven minutes, starts with the officer approaching Russini’s car.
She says: ‘I’m an NFL reporter, and I just broke that Sean McDermott got fired from the Bills. And that I what I was just sending to send [sic], a tweet. I was gonna pull over, because I have to make calls. I know you don’t care, but I just wanted you to know my reason why.’
The officer responds: ‘Obviously you were on your phone for a while. . . . I understand you’ve got a job.’
Then, Russini interrupts and says she was on the phone to former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll before asking the officer if he’s a fan of the Giants or Jets.
That is when the officer tells her he is a Vikings fan, which prompts Russini to show what looks like a text exchange with O’Connell before telling the officer that Minnesota’s quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, ‘sucks’.
After going to his vehicle to check over Russini’s documentation, the officer returns and says to her: ‘I’m gonna cut you a break on the cellphone. I understand your job requires you to be on the phone a lot. Just try to wait ’til you get home, OK?’
More to follow.
