Former ESPN reporter Dianna Russini did not hesitate to use her connections to try to get out of a tough situation with a police officer.
But it didn’t go down quite the way she originally described.
A recent article about Russini in the New York Times highlights an incident that occurred in January, when the former NFL insider was pulled over for texting and driving. Her former employer, The Athletic, is currently investigating Russini’s past to determine whether her reporting was influenced by her romantic relationship with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.
In a February podcast appearance, Russini admitted to doing “a nasty play” by Facetiming with the head coach of the police officer’s favorite football team to get her out of the ticket.
A ploy which, according to her, worked.
“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 said.
However, recently released body-cam footage from the officer who pulled her over shows that she definitely used her status as an NFL reporter to try to get out of the ticket. But, at no point did she Facetime with a coach.
“So — you’re not gonna care — I’m an NFL reporter, and I just wrote that Sean McDermott got fired from the Bills,” Russini told the officer, “and that is what I was just sending. I sent a tweet, and I was gonna pull over because I have to make calls. I know you don’t care, but I’m just letting you know my reason why. It was a work thing, and it was an emergency for what I do.”
The officer pointed out that Russini had been on her phone for quite a while. Russini told the officer that she had been on the phone with then-New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll. When the officer revealed that he was a Minnesota Vikings fan, she quickly showed him her phone to reveal that she had recently texted with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
“Oh my God, KOC!” the officer replied.
Russini and the officer talked about the Vikings briefly before he let her off with a warning and a request: “Keep me updated with the Vikings.”