A police chief from New Jersey has shed light on why Dianna Russini managed to escape receiving a ticket for using her phone while driving. Recently released cringe-inducing footage shows her invoking the name of an NFL coach to dodge the fine.
The bodycam video captures Russini being stopped by an officer on a snowy day. Earlier this year, she resigned from her position at The Athletic after facing allegations of an affair with New England Patriots’ coach, Mike Vrabel.
In the footage, Russini explains she was busy reporting that Sean McDermott had been fired by the Buffalo Bills. She mentions being on the call with former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll and then inquires whether the officer supports the Giants or Jets.
After reviewing her documents, the officer returns to her car and remarks, “I’m gonna cut you a break on the cellphone. I understand your job requires you to be on the phone a lot. Just try to wait ’til you get home, OK?”
Responding to the footage, Chief Forest Ross Lyons of the Ridgewood, New Jersey, Police Department disclosed that his officer opted to exercise “professional discretion” by giving Russini a warning instead of a ticket.
A New Jersey police chief has explained why Dianna Russini did not get a ticket for using her phone while driving
Russini left her job as an NFL reporter this year over intimate pictures of her and Mike Vrabel
‘On January 19, 2026, at 9:40 am, a Ridgewood police officer conducted a motor vehicle stop on Godwin Avenue involving Ms. Dianna Russini for the use of a handheld cell phone while driving,’ Lyons said in a statement, via NBC Sports.
‘After following department protocol during the stop, and reviewing Ms. Russini’s driving history, the officer exercised his professional discretion and issued a verbal warning to Ms. Russini.
‘The use of officer discretion in determining whether to issue a warning or a citation is consistent with Ridgewood Police Department policy and longstanding practice. Police officers are encouraged to use their judgment and, when appropriate, provide motorists with warnings as part of the Department’s commitment to fair, impartial and community-oriented policing.’
Back in February, Russini revealed on ‘Stugotz and Company’ that she was pulled over by police weeks before for texting while driving with her two young sons in the car.
She claimed she told the officer she was using her phone because the Bills had just fired head coach McDermott and she was trying to report the news.
However, she also alleged that she managed to prevent a ticket by getting the head coach of the officer’s favorite team to speak with him on FaceTime, which the footage does not appear to show.
It is another desperately embarrassing episode for the former NFL insider, whose world was turned upside down by her affair scandal with Vrabel.
An investigation into Russini and Vrabel’s alleged relationship was published by the New York Times on June 24.
Footage shows Russini avoiding a ticket after appearing to show an officer – who was a Vikings fan – a text message exchange with Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell (pictured)
The sports reporter claimed earlier this year that she got O’Connell to speak with the officer
Not only did it detail how she was paid close to $800,000-a-year by the New York Times-owned Athletic before her career collapsed, but it also included comments from her that she wanted to remain private.
However, it also told the story of how bosses at The Athletic were unhappy with her for sharing the story of her allegedly using her relationship with O’Connell to get out of a driving ticket.
‘So he names the team [that he is a fan of] and I go, “Oh, I love that team. Do you want to talk to the coach? You should talk to the coach”,’ Russini claimed on the podcast.
She said she immediately FaceTimed the coach, who ‘played all into it’ and told the officer ‘you should let her go, she’s a good citizen.’
Russini admitted she was ‘desperate’ in the moment because ‘I don’t want to get a ticket. My husband is going to kill me.’
She continued: ‘I’m texting and driving. I shouldn’t be doing that I know that… I [called] a coach to get out of a ticket. Like what a nasty play but it worked.’
Danielle Rhoades Ha, a Times Company spokeswoman, called it ‘unacceptable conduct’, while it later emerged that Russini also never asked or received permission to go on that podcast, which was required.
Russini left her job at The Athletic, where she was one of the highest-paid journalists, just days after bombshell pictures emerged in early April of her appearing intimate with Vrabel at an adults-only resort in Arizona . Both are married with children.