NFL reporter Chrissy Floyd celebrated Deanna Russini’s retirement from The Athletic after she was spotted spending time with married coach Mike Vrabel at an Arizona resort.
Floyd tweeted on Tuesday, along with Russini’s resignation letter: “You told me to hand in this or you’ll get fired instead. Don’t hit the door on your way out.”
“We know who you really are and what you’ve been up to all these years,” she insisted. “It has a huge negative impact on women who have played sports the right way.”
Floyd later doubled down on his comments about Russini, telling the Daily Caller that Russini “deserves” the blame.
“We all know what she’s been up to,” she insisted. “Everything is almost certainly true, from his argument with other reporters in a Chili’s parking lot over his relationship with a married NFL coach to everything else. For a while, it was the worst-kept secret in NFL reporting.”
The reporter also claimed that at one point Russini “turned down” an opportunity to serve in a leadership role because of her “track record.”
“I can honestly say that I have never slept with a player or coach for professional benefit. Deanna cannot say the same. That’s the difference,” Floyd further asserted.
Page Six reached out to Floyd and Russini for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
On Tuesday, Russini, 43, resigned from his position as The Athletic’s senior NFL insider after Page Six published exclusive photos taken with Vrabel at a luxury resort in Sedona, Arizona.
Snapshots showed the reporter and the New England Patriots head coach (both married to other people) hugging and intertwining their fingers.
At one point, the pair lounged by the pool and even took a dip in the water.
In a statement to Page Six, Vrabel, 50, and Russini denied the outing was romantic.
“The photo does not represent the group of six people spending time together during the day. Like most NFL journalists, the reporters interacted with sources away from the stadium and other venues,” Russini said.
“These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable and deserves no further response,” Vrabel said.
Last week, Page Six exclusively reported that Mr. Russini was removed from an interview with The New York Times last week.
While some celebrated Russini’s fall from grace, sportscaster Michelle Beadle issued a scathing warning to “female sports figures” who had criticized the mother-of-two.
“What I find interesting is that there are a lot of female athletes who are very reluctant to go out and make a fuss about themselves,” Beadle, a member of the San Antonio Spurs’ broadcast team, said Monday on her Beadle & Decker podcast.
“Guys, someday I’m going to write a book, and the more I see you guys rant about this high-minded, mighty, self-righteous thing, the better I know a lot of you,” she added. “So be careful.”
Beadle also said he believed “misogyny” played a role in how Russini was treated in the scandal.
“She has a job on the line and he doesn’t, he doesn’t have a job on the line,” she explained. “I don’t know why this is affecting my work. It’s not really.”
Mike has been married to Jen Vrabel since 1999 and they have two children, sons Tyler and Carter.
Meanwhile, Russini married Kevin Goldschmidt in September 2020. She and the Shake Shack executive have sons Michael and Joey.
