NEWSDianna Russini Plotting Media Return After Probe With Barstool Sports a Leading Candidate to Hire Her: Sources
Dianna Russini is reportedly ready to return to sports media with Barstool Sports looking to hire her after affair scandal.
Sept. 4 2026, Updated 3:17 a.m. ET
Dianna Russini is reportedly gearing up for her media return sooner rather than later, and she might already have a job lined up.
The sports journalist is on the market for a new job after leaving her position as a senior NFL insider for The Athletic in April. According to Front Office Sports, Barstool Sports is a major player looking to hire the star journalist.
Barstool Sports Is Reportedly Looking to Hire Dianna Russini
Dianna Russini reportedly has several jobs lined up after leaving The Athletic following her alleged affair scandal.
The outlet pointed out that Russini is friends with Dan “Big Cat” Katz and Eric “PFT Commenter” Sollenberger, who co-host the company's “Pardon My Take” podcast.
She has also appeared on the podcast many times over the years. As a result, it is not quite surprising that she might find a position suitable for her to work at the company.
Fox Sports Radio’s Jon “Stugotz” Weiner, who is also a friend of the journalist, reportedly stated that he would recruit her during an episode of his show in May.
Dianna Russini is reportedly 'absolutely' ready to return to sports media.
He also added that “the offer holds forever.”
It would be interesting to see which offer she takes up, particularly because a source reportedly told the outlet that the 43-year-old is “absolutely” planning to come back to the sports media industry as soon as possible.
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Dianna Russini Faced Scrutiny Following Leaked Photos of Her and Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel Cozying Up
Page Six first published pictures of Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel holding hands and hugging earlier this year.
Page Six first published photos of Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and Russini seemingly holding hands and embracing at a resort in Arizona earlier this year. The outlet also published photos of them together on other occasions.
Following the scandal, the reporter, who has been married to her husband Kevin Goldschmidt since 2020 and shares two sons with him, stepped down from her position at The Athletic.
Vrabel, on the other hand, reportedly did not receive any disciplinary action from the league or the team. He has been married to his wife, Jen, since 1999 and also shares two sons with her.
The Athletic concluded that Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel's relationship violated the outlet's standards.
The Athletic, however, conducted an internal investigation into Russini’s reporting related to the coach and the team over the past five months, with the results recently published by the outlet.
While they noted that their former reporter was “noncompliant” with the company's standards, Russini defended herself, saying, “I stand by any and all reporting I’ve ever done in my career.”
Mike Semel, The Athletic’s editorial director for standards and editorial quality, noted in the report, “Most of what Russini wrote about Vrabel or the Patriots was transactional and newsy.”
“In addition, I’ve not found a clear link to conclude that Russini used her platform to promote Vrabel or help his teams during her time at The Athletic.”
