Two reporters may be watching football from the couch this coming season after a viral scandal in the sports world.
Dianna Russini has been in the headlines for weeks following the revelation of rumors linking her to the head coach of an NFL team.
Last week, Russini resigned from her role at The New York Times’ outlet, The Athletic after viral images of the pair together began circulating online. She denied any claims that she is having an affair with the alleged NFL coach.
But now their romantic melee has cost someone else their job in a surprise twist.
Russini was spotted in viral images with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, though both denied the rumors, with the pair seen hugging and laughing poolside in Sedona.
Another female reporter chimed in on the viral conversation on social media, where she expressed her thoughts on Russini’s exit. She alleged Russini quit to get ahead of the scandal, adding a nasty dig.
“I’m sure you were told to submit this or that you’d get fired instead,” USA Today reporter Crissy Froyd wrote on X.
“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. We know who you really are and what you’ve been up to for years. It does so much detriment to women in sports who have done things the right way,” she continued.
#Patriots HC Mike Vrabel and Athletic reporter Dianna Russini were seen holding hands and hugging while at a luxury hotel pool in pictures obtained by the New York Post. Vrabel and Russini and both married.
— New England Sports Fellow (@_JosephManning) April 7, 2026
“Both Russini and Vrabel insist they were there with friends and say… pic.twitter.com/OmbDBH2PR1
After weighing in on Russini’s departure, USA Today terminated their contract with Crissy Froyd, “effective immediately.”
“Her recent statements do not reflect our commitment to professionalism or uphold our principles of ethical conduct,” they wrote.
“I struggle to understand the positioning here after that was published,” said Froyd after her firing. “But that apparently I as an independent contractor cannot make my own statements on my own social media accounts.”
She said she looks forward to her next chapter, while continuing to write for other sports-related outlets.
Social media showed no sympathy for the reporter as news of her firing spread. One Instagram user simply replied, “Lesson: that you never kick someone when they are down.”
A second person wrote, “Well those claws came out pretty quick.” Meanwhile, a third person gave some advice to the recently unemployed freelancer. “When people leave under negative circumstances, you keep your mouth shut,” they wrote.
I’m sure you were told to submit this or that you’d get fired instead.
— Crissy Froyd (@crissy_froyd) April 14, 2026
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. We know who you really are and what you’ve been up to for years. It does so much detriment to women in sports who have done things the right way. https://t.co/dswaHZjIHL
On April 16, Froyd posted, “I regret zero of what I said and stand beside it,” then shamefully plugged her interest in doing interviews.
She added, “I also find it so interesting that a Nancy Armour column was able to be published about Dianna Russini setting women back on USAT, but that my comments as a freelancer on my own social media about her were not fine. Be bold and speak out. Will it make a martyr out of you? Maybe. But some things are worth it and some are not.”
Froyd added she was aware of the risk before posting her initial tweet about Russini, but she refused to take it back. “Sorry for speaking the truth?” the freelance writer wrote.
She also reposted another comment that read, “I wasn’t expecting this… It definitely reveals that the NFL and its news outlets are circling the wagons around Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel. This is wild.”
Russini said she left The Athletic amid “self-feeding speculation … unmoored from the facts.”
“Moreover, this media frenzy is hurtling forward without regard for the review process The Athletic is trying to complete,” read the statement shared by TMZ. “It continues to escalate, fueled by repeated leaks, and I have no interest in submitting to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I am willing to accept.”
Another detail quickly spread online: Russini’s marriage to Shake Shack executive Kevin Goldschmidt for six years. They share two sons, Michael and Joey.
She confessed that her contract expires on June 30. But she refused to stay and “lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career.”
In addition to Froyd’s social media post about Russini, she also roasted her in an interview.
“From fights with other reporters in Chili’s parking lots about hooking up with married NFL coaches to everything else, it is almost certainly all true,” said Froyd. “It was the worst kept secret in the NFL reporting world for a while.”
“Someone once propositioned me to have Dianna potentially be my mentor. I declined because I knew what she was about and her track record,” she added.
