In the midst of the scandal revolving around the alleged affair between NFL insider Dianna Russini and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel came a truly bizarre twist in the story.
Just one day after Russini defiantly resigned from The Athletic while defending her character and integrity, the New York Post’s Page Six (which published the original pictures of Russini and Vrabel together at a swanky Arizona resort) published a very different story about her.
The exclusive headline of the story from Oli Coleman was, “Dianna Russini mounts daring rescue of elderly man, dog trapped in car crash a week after Mike Vrabel scandal.” The story detailed the reporter somehow finding herself at the scene of an accident in suburban New Jersey where a Jeep had flipped over. An eyewitness told Page Six that a man had lifted Russini on top of the rolled over Jeep to help pull the driver and his dog out of the car. What are the odds that someone going through a career crisis would suddenly commit such a heroic act that would help salvage at least some of her public reputation?
However, that story is now coming under serious doubt.
Page Six filed a major update two weeks later with Coleman writing a new story entitled, “Bizarre twist in Dianna Russini crash story as witness claims she didn’t save driver.” The new story details that a second person stepped forward to say that Russini did not climb the vehicle to rescue the driver. She was indeed at the scene to help, but she held onto the dog’s leash while the second witness’ husband was the one who ripped open the canvas of the Jeep to free the driver and dog.
Weird, right? What could explain the near complete backtrack? That’s where a 49ers and sports betting podcaster comes in.
Tony Farmer has been posting several videos with what he has been hearing throughout the saga involving Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini. Just after the Page Six update was published, Farmer posted an article on his X page detailing his own research into the car crash story.
Farmer found the police report from the accident that does not mention Russini by name. He then showed his own correspondence with Farmer and a PR rep asking questions about his reporting in the first story about the incident. After Farmer’s inquiries, the Post published the new Page Six story.
I made 2 @PageSix employees including @OliJColeman aware that I was dropping a story tomorrow that contradicted their reporting of the Russini “rescue”
Oli wouldn’t talk on record and 4 Hours later published essentially my version.
[My phone and Email are on Pacific Time] pic.twitter.com/X6WmLFwWOZ
— Tony Farmer (@Tonysmarkettips) May 1, 2026
In a follow-up post on Friday morning, Farmer went into further detail when looking at pictures from the accident scene why climbing on top of the Jeep was impractical from the start.
When it comes to the when, how, and why of the new Page Six story, it appears that Farmer has the goods in documenting what happened behind the scenes. But the question that has to be asked now is why this story would come to light in the first place and how Dianna Russini rescuing someone from a car crash made it into national headlines if that wasn’t actually the case? Russini deleted her social media accounts last week, so it’s unlikely that we will be getting an explanation from her about this story, or anything else for that matter, for the foreseeable future.

About Matt Yoder
Recent Posts
TV and streaming viewing picks for May 14, 2026: How to watch NFL schedule release
For the first time, the NFL regular season will be released in a simulcast on ESPN and NFL Network. Laura Rutledge hosts.
Jonathan Zaslow on 790 The Ticket, Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Joy Taylor, and more
On this week’s episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast, Brandon Contes interviews longtime Miami sports media personality Jonathan...
Charles Barkley pays tribute to Jason Collins, says we still live in ‘homophobic society’
"Anybody who thinks we ain't got a bunch of gay players in all sports, they're just stupid."
Netflix reveals ‘Quarterback’ Season 3 roster
A quartet of quarterbacks at very different points in their NFL careers will feature in the new season of Netflix's documentary series.
NBA sweeps Top 10 sporting events in early May ratings
After being the source of debate all season, NBA ratings are dominating the sports landscape to begin the playoffs.
Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl rematch to kick off 2026-27 NFL season
It's the first time the league has opened with a rematch of the prior year's Super Bowl since 2016.