The saga of Dianna Russini has taken another interesting turn, this time involving the Minnesota Vikings and Kevin O’Connell.
Dec 25, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell looks on in the second quarter against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Vikings haven’t had the best association with former reporter at The Athletic Dianna Russini.
During the 2025 offseason, Russini was driving hard the idea that Aaron Rodgers was going to be signing with the Vikings. It didn’t end up coming to fruition, and that soured the fanbase with Russini, because she didn’t stop talking about it with a lot of gusto.
After she parted ways with The Athletic, more has come out about her time there, including reportedly using an NFL head coach to get out of a ticket. It was initially reported as a FaceTime call, but that was the only detail that wasn’t correct.
Kevin O’Connell linked to Dianna Russini traffic stop
The bodycam footage of Russini being pulled over this January, which was the morning the Buffalo Bills fired Sean McDermott, was released. It turns out that she used a text message with head coach Kevin O’Connell to get out of a ticket for using her cell phone.
During the initial interaction, Russini tells the officer she is an NFL reporter finding out that McDermott was fired as an explanation why she was on her phone. The officer tells her that he’s not a fan, but after pressing, Russini finds out that he’s a Vikings fan.
That’s when things get interesting.
Russini shows a text message thread she had with O’Connell, which makes sense in trying to get out of a ticket. However, that’s not what is most intriguing.
We know that Russini was sharing copious amounts of info about Rodgers and the Vikings. Many will link O’Connell to being the source, but we don’t know that for sure. Coaches often have friendly relationships with the media, as it benefits them just as much. Was O’Connell the source? It’s certainly possible.
However, that wasn’t the most intriguing element of the traffic stop. Russini dropped three words that likely did come from O’Connell himself.
“Their quarterback sucks.”
She was referring to J.J. McCarthy. Keep in mind that this is on January 19th per the timestamp. That is before we knew that Murray would be available. What does this mean for McCarthy’s future? It certainly lines up with how former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was scapegoated, blaming him for the selection of McCarthy.
Dianna Russini dropping the line “Their quarterback sucks” regarding J.J. McCarthy after using Kevin O’Connell’s text messages lines up with how much Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was scapegoated for the selection https://t.co/GI6RZxWV0h
— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) June 30, 2026
This is not how the Vikings wanted the six-week break to go, and having this happen is tough. However, the Vikings also didn’t do anything wrong here. It’s more than okay for O’Connell to talk with a reporter. This is on Russini more than anything.
Just another average day in a Minnesota Vikings offseason.
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