Bodycam Footage Contradicts Russini's Account of Traffic Stop Name-Drop
Police bodycam footage from a January 19, 2026, traffic stop in Ridgewood, New Jersey, contradicts a public account given by former NFL reporter Dianna Russini of how she avoided a citation for using a handheld phone while driving. Russini had told a radio audience she FaceTimed an NFL coach during the stop; the footage shows no such call took place. What did occur, according to the recording, was Russini showing the officer text messages exchanged with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell.
The stop, conducted at 9:40 a.m. on Godwin Avenue, lasted just over seven minutes. Russini identified herself to the officer almost immediately as an NFL reporter, explaining she had been on her phone because she was working a breaking story - the firing of Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott, which occurred that morning following the Bills' AFC Divisional Round playoff loss. She also told the officer that former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll was a candidate for the vacant Buffalo position. When the officer volunteered that he was a Vikings fan, Russini showed him her phone, displaying texts with O'Connell that included her assessments of the Vikings' quarterback and the coach. The officer subsequently issued a verbal warning and released her without a citation. padel odds
Russini had discussed the stop in February 2026 on the "Stugotz and Company" program, saying she had FaceTimed a coach whose team the officer supported. She did not name the coach in that telling. The New York Times later revisited the account as part of broader reporting on Russini's professional circumstances. The Ridgewood Police Department released the bodycam footage after The Center Square first reported on the incident. Ridgewood Police Chief Forest Lyons confirmed the sequence of events in a written statement, noting the officer had reviewed Russini's driving history and exercised departmental discretion in issuing a warning rather than a citation. "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," Lyons said.
The traffic stop disclosure adds to a period of sustained public scrutiny for Russini. She resigned from The Athletic in April 2026 following reporting on her personal relationship with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. Photographs of the two at a private resort in Sedona, Arizona, circulated widely, and subsequent images obtained by the New York Post, taken in March 2020, showed the pair together at a bar in New York City - at a time when Vrabel was married. Vrabel remained in his position with the Patriots, who publicly stated their support for him after he underwent a counseling visit during the 2026 NFL Draft. Daboll, who was not hired by Buffalo - the Bills promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach - ultimately joined Robert Saleh's staff as offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans.
