A colleague of The Athletic’s former NFL insider, Dianna Russini, admitted he’s had a tough time watching the scandal involving her and Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel evolve in public.
The alleged affair between Russini and Vrabel has been the biggest story in the NFL for over a month ever since Page Six published images of the two at an adults-only resort in Arizona.
Since then, more images have been released as the scandal continues to evolve each week.
It led to Russini’s resignation from The Athletic after the company launched an investigation into her actions.
In an appearance on the ‘Between the Tackles’ podcast last week, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport said he felt no joy in watching this saga continue between two people he’s well acquainted with.
‘I’ve never really seen it with people that I know,’ Rapoport said. ‘And it’s really different and, like, not good and sad and just, like, all around.’
NFL insider Ian Rapoport says he’s had trouble watching the Dianna Russini scandal play out
Rapoport says the scandal with Russini and Mike Vrabel is ‘much sadder’ than he anticipated
Russini has lost her job as a result of the scandal and hasn’t made any new public statements
Rapoport called the situation ‘much sadder than I ever anticipated.’
‘I would not wish anybody on any level to go through anything like everyone involved in this is going through,’ he added.
While Russini lost her job in the process of the scandal, Vrabel has not met the same fate.
Instead, Vrabel has been seeking counseling in the wake of the scandal in order to try and fix his marriage.
This led to him flying out to Utah in late-April – resulting in Vrabel missing the final day of the NFL Draft.
Russini has also not made a public statement since the announcement of her resignation.
She was recently spotted out with her husband, Shake Shack executive Kevin Goldschmidt, in Manhattan at a bar near Madison Square Garden before a Bruce Springsteen concert.
A witness told Daily Mail that Russini and Goldschmidt both looked in good spirits and that their group was very excitable as they shared drinks and food as people gathered before the show.
