Just when NFL fans thought things couldn’t get worse for former NFL insider Dianna Russini, they did.
Police bodycam footage just caught Russini in a lie, directly contradicting her viral tale that she escaped a traffic ticket with a FaceTime call to an NFL head coach.
What Did Dianna Russini Actually Say During the Infamous Traffic Stop?
The Center Square’s Adam Herbets obtained the bodycam video of the Dianna Russini traffic stop. The seven-minute video showed the complete interaction between Russini and the police officer, but there was no FaceTime or phone call to any NFL coach.
What the footage actually exposed was a desperate sequence of name-dropping that ultimately led to her avoiding a ticket but never features the video call she claimed took place.
Russini was pulled over for texting and driving. After the officer approached her vehicle, she immediately leads with her professional credentials and explains that she is an NFL reporter who just broke the news of Sean McDermott being fired from the Buffalo Bills.
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When the officer pointed out that she was on her device for an extended period of time, Russini name-dropped former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll.
She also told the officer that she was actively on the phone with Daboll because he wanted the vacant Buffalo job. Russini said, “You know who I was on the phone with? Brian Daboll. He wants the job.”
Then, Russini asked the officer whether he was a New York Jets or New York Giants fan. Upon discovering that the officer was actually a Minnesota Vikings fan, Russini immediately shoved her phone forward to display a text message exchange with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
“Your quarterback sucks, though,” Russini added in an apparent shot at J.J. McCarthy.
The officer checked Russini’s documents, went back to his car, came back, and then let Russini go after issuing a warning.
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Then, the footage ends… notably without a FaceTime call to any head coach. Russini’s version of events was very different when she told the story on the “Stugotz and Company” radio show back in February. In her version, she asked, “Do you want to talk to the coach? You should talk to the coach.”
“I FaceTime the head coach. Head coach is in his office. He said, ‘What’s up?’ I go, ‘I just got pulled over and I just wanted you to meet my friend, Officer Joe,’” Russini said.
According to Russini, the unnamed coach told the police officer that Russini is “a good citizen” and that he should let her go.
Russini’s anecdote was featured in The New York Times’ bombshell report about the former reporter and it became the latest controversy surrounding her, with Times Company spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha calling it “unacceptable conduct.”
Now, the bodycam footage suggests that her story was a complete lie, which further damages her credibility in the public’s eye. Russini resigned from The Athletic in April after intimate photos of the reporter and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel were published by Page Six, and an internal investigation is ongoing.