Latest / I Do, Part 2 / NFL Reporter Resigns From Job After Questionable Photos With Patriots’ Head Coach

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NFL Reporter Resigns From Job After Questionable Photos With Patriots’ Head Coach · I Do, Part 2

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Wednesday, April fifteenth, and just
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: a week ago, pictures were published of an NFL coach
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: with an NFL reporter. Today, that NFL reporter is out
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: of a job, not because she was fired over the pictures,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: but she has resigned. And with that, welcome to this
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: episode of Amy and TJ with Robes. We need to
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: be careful, we need to be kind, We need to
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: be as respectful as possible in a situation like this
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: where so many lives and so many families right now
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: are upended. But this was a story that caught fire.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: How much had you been keeping up with this story
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: about New England Patriots coach Mike Rabel and NFL reporter Russini?
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Is her name, Diana Russini? But how closely? How much
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: was this in your orbit? Sometimes you are aware of
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: some of the stuff more than I ails.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: I was aware of it.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: I was reading about it, I saw the photos, but
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: it really didn't rise to the level until she resigned.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: That's when I really took notice, because this wasn't somebody
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: who was fired from her job or discipline. There is
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: an investigation that is continuing by the way she worked
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: for the Athletic, which is the New York Times owned
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: sports publication, a very well respected This is a big deal.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: This was a big job.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: She was the senior NFL reporter, and so for her
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: to resign on her own absolutely caught my attention.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Well that is now, But I'm saying I wasn't keeping
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: up with I don't know how much of this story
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: was bubbling. It was absolutely a tabloid story. Yeah, that's fair. Yes,
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: and tabloids were covering it because of the pictures that
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: came out. It wasn't necessarily a main stream story, if
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: you will, until we started hearing about investigations and now
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: a resignation. Let's start at the top robes with the
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: photos in the first place, if people are not familiar,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Mike Rabel is the head coach of the New England Patriots,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: a storied franchise at this point, but he is now
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: going into his second year. In his first year, he
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: was named NFL Coach of the Year and took his
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: team to the Super Bowl. They lost. But Robes say
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: all that to say he is a very big, identifiable
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: representative of the NFL and one of its biggest franchises.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Yes, and he is in a lot of ways.
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: Yes, larger than life, just by his resume and what
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: he's done and what he's accomplished, But even physically, he's
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: not somebody you can miss, like in a crowd.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: So it's interesting.
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: All of these pictures were taken without their knowledge, it's
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: very obvious, but at a luxury Arizona resort, and they
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: were in public, and that was part of their defense.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: They were out in public and the pictures they claim
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: were misleading, but it basically shows the two of them
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: holding hands at one point looks like they were maybe
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: dancing on a rooftop.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: Embracing, and then sitting in.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: The hotel's hot tub, and also lounging in the pool
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: in loungers next to each other.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: And again, if you don't know Diana Russini, a lot
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: of folks might not necessarily know the name, might not
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: know her face. But she was a long time reporter
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: at ESPN, was there at least a decade, I do believe,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: and then she moved over to the Athletic where she's
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: been for the past few years. She does have a
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: high profile spot over there, and she does cover the NFL.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Therein lies the problem. So the pictures first and foremost, Robes.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: They anybody, it's up for interpretation of what you see
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: in those photos and what you see in those photos Robes,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: at least in two of them. It's hard to suggest,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: just by common sense that those are two people who
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: are not involved romantically. The hugging photo, and then they
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: have both hands in each other's and you said almost dancing.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: It's hard to look at the pictures and think anything else.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: It doesn't look platonic.
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: Now there's no smoking gun, there's no sexualized interaction where
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: you think, oh wow. But it does look like a
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: couple on a romantic getaway in a beautiful, stunning setting
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: about I believe, about two hours drive away from where
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: they had been working, I guess in the Phoenix area.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: So it looks like a romantic, luxurious getaway for a
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: couple in love.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Okay, fine, knock yourselves out. The issue for others is
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: that these two are married to other people. Fine, none
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: of us know what's going on in any of those relationships.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: None of us understands at all that background. But Robes.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: The reason this has now risen to a level is
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: initially their response to the photos flies in the face
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: of what you see. You can't necessarily, Robes make the
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: two things line up. Their initial comments and the pictures.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Yes, their initial comments.
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: Basically, Russini said that she was there on a hiking
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: trip with two other girlfriends, and that he was there
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: with other friends.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: I believe they said there was a party of six.
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: Basically, it wasn't just the two of them. There were
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: four other people involved on the trip. He had a
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: friend or two and she had two friends. The problem
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: is there are no photos showing any other people, and
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: they were taken over a series of several hours and
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: it was just the two of them, and according to
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: some of the publications that when they talked to other guests,
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: they were never seen with anyone other than each other.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Okay again, not you. You are adult folks, right, and
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: this has now come out and this is now public.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Rabel's response Coach Rabel initially Robes is he was a
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: little dismissive. I guess very much, you could say. And
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: it also flies in the face of what our own
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: I see. I don't need to question them at all.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: If these pictures that come out and they never made
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: a statement, I just don't care knock themselves out that's
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: to y'all your spouses each other. Go ahead, but Robes
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: that statement he made, I mean, yeah, who you think
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: you're talking?
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: Coach Brabel said, these photos show a completely innocent interaction,
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: and any suggestion otherwise is laughable.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: That's completely innocent. And look, I don't, fine, fine, don't
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: say anything. But to tell grown folks, I mean, we're
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: looking at it's a guy.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: You don't usually hold hands and look lovingly in someone's
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: eyes on a rooftop in a picturesque. But like maybe
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: they were practicing dance moves for something that she was
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: doing later. I mean, there could be an innocent explanation,
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: it just doesn't look like one. So to say that
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: the pictures are completely innocent maybe requires, if you're going
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: to comment at all, a little further explanation.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: So he called it laughable and initially Robes. The Athletic
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: stood by her. They even said these photos are misleading
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: and lack essential contexts. These were public interactions in front
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: of many people. Diana as a premier journalist covering the NFL,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: and we're proud to have her at the Atlantic. But
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: record scratch, something has now taken place. Something has happened.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: It's gone a little further and she has resigned Robes.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: She wasn't suspended, but there was an investigation that it
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: seems like now Robes she wanted to get ahead of
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: before it found out whatever it might find out. But
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: she posted a lengthy resignation letter online yesterday Robes, and
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: she addressed a lot of stuff. The thing she did
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: not address is whether or not the things that are
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: being talked about and the rumors or whatever else are
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: true or not. Rose there has not been a denial,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: and that.
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: Has been very glaring. The fact that neither one of
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: them have said anything that would be yes considered a
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: flat out denial that anything untoward was going on. So
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: this is what she wrote in her resignation letter. Please
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: accept this letter as my resignation from the Athletic, effective immediately.
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: I have come to this decision with deep sadness, but
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: with clarity about what is right for me, my family,
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: and the work I have spent my career building. You
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: and I have already publicly addressed the recent attacks against me,
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: and I have nothing to add publicly to what we
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: have said. I have covered the NFL with professionalism and
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: dedication throughout my career, and I stand behind every story
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: I have ever published. When the page six item first appeared,
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: the Athletic supported me unequivocally expressed confidence in my work
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: and pride in my journalism.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: For that, I am grateful In the days that followed.
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately, commentators in various media have engaged in self feeding
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: speculation that is simply unmoored from the facts.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: Moreover, this media frenzy.
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: Is hurtling forward without regard for the review process the
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: Athletic is trying to complete. It continues to escalate, fueled
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: by repeated leaks, and I have no interest in submitting
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: to a public inquiry that has already caused far more
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: damage than I am willing to accept. Rather than allowing
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: this to continue, I have decided to step aside now
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: before my current contract expires on June thirtieth.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: I do so not because I.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: Accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode,
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: to let it define me or my career. Over a
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: career spending more than fifteen years in sports journalism at NBC,
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: ESPN and The Athletic, I have built a body of
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: work I am proud of. I have broken stories or
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: in the trust of sources across the league, and been
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: guided by the highest standards of professional conduct.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: That record speaks for itself.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: I remain grateful to the athletic and for the extraordinary
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: colleagues with whom I have worked there, for the platform
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: it provided, and for the support you showed me during
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: this difficult time. I wish you nothing but continued success
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: and look of Note, she never once said I categorically
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: deny any affair with with coach sorry coach rabel Like.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: She never once denies it or says.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: She doesn't have to. I mean she doesn't have to.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: But by not doing it, is that creating more? Is
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: she fueling more speculation?
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Of course she is.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: We would not have touched the story. We wouldn't have.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: She's got something going on with her husband. He's got
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: something going on with his wife. I don't know. I
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: don't understand. Knock yourselves out, suss that out.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: All.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: That's a y'all. If they want to do whatever they
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: want to do it. I'm just saying I am not,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: and I get how this goes. We get to a
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: subnegree more than most robes, but it became a story
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: when she resigned because of pictures that were posted. So
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: now I am very curious and interested. Why did she resign,
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Why should she have to resign? Why is this happening?
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: And the answer she gives for it robes. She doesn't
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: have to say anything else, anything at all about this story,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: and we don't have to speculate at all. But she
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: had a long opportunity here to speak to the public.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: She had a long opportunity here to say a simple thing,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: and she said it Robes in compound sentences and using
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: words that you don't use, and it's almost to make
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: you confused about her non denial dens who talks like
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: this when you're saying commentators in various media have engaged
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: in self feeding speculation that is simply unmoored from the facts.
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: Unmoored from the facts, What does that mean that there's
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: some truth to it, but it's not all true, but
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: some of it could be true. And the point being
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: is you and I just know from experience a picture,
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: yes can say a lot of different things that aren't true,
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: or you do need context, or you do need background information.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: We fully know what that feels like.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: But hell, no, would we have ever resigned our positions
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: when we knew we did nothing wrong.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: So that's I guess where we're coming from.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: Yes, it continues to escalate, fueled by repeated leaks, and
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: I have no interest in submitting to a public inquiry,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: inquiry that has already calls former damage.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: I just then put it to bed and say this
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: did not happen.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Here is the one that got me. I resign, but
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: I do so not because I accept the narrative that
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: has been constructed.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Around It's nebulous.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: That's what I mean, babe. And again Rusini, lady, you
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: can do whatever you want to do, that's fine, but
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: you don't have to admit anything to me. But she's
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: not denying. She's telling us all we talk about this
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: sometimes with the Trump administration.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: Bro.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: It's not to get all this muddy too much. But
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: this thing where my eyes see something and you decide
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: to tell me something else that what I'm seeing is
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: not true, And that got my attention on this story.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: If you just stay quiet, I'd have moved on. But
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: she's telling me that there is a narrative that has
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: been constructed around this episode that I do not accept.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Roads all you have to say is, yeah, pictures look crazy,
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: look bad. We were hanging out, but nothing is going on.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: And you wouldn't resign if there was nothing to the
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: photos and there was nothing to the narrative. Why would
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: you you would? For your own good name, your reputation,
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: your children. She has two children, a husband of six years,
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: you would stay, honestly, I would imagine just for that,
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: just to say, hey, I hate leaving.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: I didn't do anything wrong. End of story.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: The resignation is tough, and I hate that. All of
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: them are a bunch of people going through something right now.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Don't completely understand it Rowlands, But nobody wants to do this.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: This is she doesn't want to lose this job. She
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: didn't want to leave this, of course not.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: And the question is does coach Rabel have any thing
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: to have to say or answer to now that she's resigned,
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: Because now questions can be asked of him who stays
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: in his position.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: Those questions are going to be asked. We will answer
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: them next. Is there a double standard? Should something also
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: happen to New England Patriots head coach Mike Rabel's there?
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: Welcome back everyone to this episode of amy and TJ.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: We are talking about that NFL reporter with the Athletic
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: resigning a week.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: After photos were published of her.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: Alongside New England Patriots coach Mike Rabel. Initially, both of
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: them said, there's nothing to them, this has been misconstrued,
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: This isn't a big deal.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Things kind of went quiet.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: We knew that the Athletic was investigating because clearly they
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: have a policy they don't want anyone, any journalist, frankly,
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: to be fraternizing off the field or having any sort
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: of potential relationship, even if it's platonic with someone who
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: you have to report on. That would violate ethics and
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: codes of mode of operation, the ethic code that most
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: journalistic entities have in place, and so they were investigating
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: whether or not she broke any ethics violations merely by
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: hanging out with him off the job.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Okay, you not supposed to have a conflict of interest,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: But they go further robes you're not even so sposed
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: to have the appearance of a conflict of interest. So
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: they could eventually, i mean, the affair of their dating
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: or not, could argue that you are obviously looking like
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: there is a conflict of interest, that you should have
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: avoided this. Oh, she could have been suspended of something else.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: It doesn't if she's not, again Robes. It's just that
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: wouldn't have risen to the level that she felt she
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: needed to resign.
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: Yes, if it were just an innocent meeting where she
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: claims she was with two girlfriends. She claims he had
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: two guy friends and that the pictures just happened to
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: show them alone, but there was a group with them.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: If that were actually true, and I'm not saying it isn't,
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: it would be bizarre that she would resign over that.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: And we should point out the Athletic and the New
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: York Times that owns the Athletic is continuing this investigation.
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: Just because she has resigned doesn't mean they aren't still
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: looking into her work to make sure that nothing that
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: she ever published was compromised based on the even appearance
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: of a conflict of interest. Yes, but this resignation is
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: her choice. And yet, what's gonna happen with Mike Frabel?
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Nothing? Absolutely nothing. First year as a head coach, he
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: almost won a Super Bowl. Nothing's gonna happen to Mike Vrabel,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: like at all? Like even the headlines might not even
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: be bad against Mike Frabel. Look, there is a policy
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: at that she has to adhere too. What policy to them?
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: There are plenty of athletes that end up we see
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: their mugshots and they still play on Sunday. Right. This
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: guy is incredibly They went fourteen in three robes. He's
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: incredibly valuable to this franchise. He also won three Super
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: Bowls with the New England Patriots. He is beloved there
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: and especially by Robert Kraft. What's going to happen to him?
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: What's going to happen if the NFL tries to call
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: one of their own on having an affair?
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: Really, yeah, I see the look.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: If you could see the look on TJ's face right now,
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: it's incredib.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Put him out to Ooh, we got to get him
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: out of here. We gotta get Vrabel out of the league.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: Did just see this stop?
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: He was holding hands with an NFL sideline reform?
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: Okay, we've seen NFL players do much worse on video
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: and still catch passes two weeks later.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: So the same rule applies for coaches in the league.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Winning coaches. I should point out.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: There is no that this is well, it's going to
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: be a little embarrassing. He skipped one press event. I
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: think on Monday of this week. I think they have
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: a pre draft NFL draft. Think that's next week that
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: his team will be He's gonna get asked, clearly.
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: Reporters are going to follow up because now it's fair game,
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: the fact that she's resigned. They're gonna want him to
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: comment on it. They're gonna want him to react to it.
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: What's he gonna say, don't know.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: He might say, I'm done talking about it. I've said
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: what I've said on it, moving on to other matters.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: Keep Peppernham, I've said what I'm going to say about it,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: move on to other matters, and eventually they're going to
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: have to stop talking. Now he might have to say
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: something to his team, he might have to say something
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: to his front office. But other than that, what has
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: he done. He's Oh, my goodness, he has brought such
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: shame upon the league.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: He says, with dripping with sarcasms.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: But folks will say there is some kind of a
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: double standard. She's been held to some different standard than
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: the man. Well, a journalist versus a coach is a
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: different standard.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: Yes, and she did choose to hold herself to that standard.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: Whatever that was.
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: I actually have to give the athletic so much kudos
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: because can you imagine if this same grace was extended
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: to us and we were allowed to actually say what
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: we went through. They actually said, while the situation was
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: brought to our attention last week, there were clear concerns,
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: but we received a detailed explanation, and it was our
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: instinct to support and defend a colleague while we continue
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: to review the matter.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: Matter. That's impressive.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: It's strong to read that obviously if only oh yeah,
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: that's stung a little bit, but I get that. And
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: then upon further information or investigation, they it continued, but
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: they didn't take action. They not a suspension, they didn't
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: pull her from anything.
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: No, they chose to take her word for it and
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: then do an independent investigation. That is the correct way
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: to handle something like this. I thought it was impressive
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: to hear that that's how they decided to handle it. Now,
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: she wasn't permitted to report during the investigation, so that
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: was one thing that she had to basically be sidelined
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: while the investigation was taking place. But that makes sense
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: as well, and it was her choice to resign.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: At the end.
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: Of it.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: Look, these stories were these are two people doing whatever
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: they were doing, and who are we or anybody else
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: to say what they were doing was right or wrong.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: I have no idea what's going on in any of
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: their lives, and there their homes, I do not know.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: But this thing people are like. Lives are being changed,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: a franchise could be upended, a reporter has lost a job,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: the athletic is being impacted. All these things roll because
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: somebody at some resort decided to take a picture of
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: two people in a private moment and send it to
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: a tabloid. Again, everybody can make the argument, well, they
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: deserve it because they were doing something wrong. Look, if
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: it's just I hate that, and all the right the
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: dominoes start to fall just based on somebody who is
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: in a resort, like mind your own damn.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: Business, Good luck with that.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: Everyone considers themselves citizen journalists and they've got those phones
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: and they're ready to take pictures at any point. And
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: the point is you could actually be doing something innocent
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: or not do anything wrong, and still it can be
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: construed a different way. Unfortunately, she has chosen to remove
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: herself from the dialogue.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: But that is causing, of course, a lot more chatter.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: That's the problem with that.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: When you make a move like this, now you're actually
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: creating the headline.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: I can't say enough with these are grown folks. Ye
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: do your thing, not defending anything they did, but not
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: attacking them for anything they did, because we actually do
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: not know what is going on.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: And that's so true.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: But Diana Russini is giving us some insight by making
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: a decision to give up a job that she loved.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: I just loved robes, but worked and fought a long
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: time to.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: Get Yeah, yeah, no, it's so true. So we certainly
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: wish her the best.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: We'll be looking to hear if we hear anything from
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: Mike Rabel, but to your point, probably it's not.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Going to be a lot.
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: We appreciate you listening to us as always, everybody, I'm
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: Amy Roboc alongside TJ.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: Holmes. We will talk to you soon.