The developments regarding the story that has had plenty of them over the past four weeks have slowed down, for now. There’s one potentially significant development still to happen, at some point. If it even happens.
Dianna Russini, formerly of ESPN and The Athletic, has yet to tell her story. If/when she does — and depending on what she says — that could change everything.
For now, there are hints that she will eventually tell her story. Via Sam Neumann of Awful Announcing, Jon “Stugotz” Weiner recently made comments on his radio show suggesting that, at some point, she’ll share her version of the events.
“This is her story to share when she feels like sharing it,” Weiner said. “It is not me. And it is not my obligation to talk to Dianna Russini privately on the phone and then share it with a radio audience that she doesn’t want me to share it with, because it’s not my story to tell. It’s her story to tell on her timeline.”
This implies that, at some point, Russini will tell her story. For now, her story is confined to the statement issued to the New York Post on April 7, and the contents of her resignation letter one week later. In both instances, she denied having the kind of relationship with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel that would undermine her objectivity.
Since then, more reporting (including photos taken in March 2020) from the New York Post, coupled with multiple statements from Vrabel himself, have undermined the notion that there’s nothing to see here.
The next step will be for Russini, if she chooses, to say something other than what she has said. Surely, multiple news organizations are trying to get her to talk. It will be for her to decide when, where, and to whom the story will be told.
Depending on what she says — and when she says it — her story could create a new set of issues for Vrabel and the Patriots.
The timing will be critical. Will she talk not long before training camp opens? In the days preceding Week 1?
Will she talk at all? Some sort of settlement agreement, with an NDA, would not be unprecedented in a situation like this.
Regardless, she has a story to tell. The first question is whether she’ll tell it. The next question is when. The ultimate question is what she’ll say.
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