NFL fans wondering when ESPN’s Dianna Russini would return to her coverage of the league got an answer over the weekend. Russini has been on maternity leave since the summer but is back on the NFL beat starting on Nov. 14.
Russini and her husband celebrated the birth of their first child this year, and she has been documenting the journey on her Substack, The Diary of NFL Insider Dianna Russini.
Russini broke the news on the site and revealed some wise words her friend and fellow ESPN reporter, Jeff Darlington, told her.
“Someone in the business texted me when Michael was about 7 weeks old,” Russini wrote. “Saying, ‘You ever coming back to work or you just milking this thing?’ The anxiety started to creep in. I texted Jeff [Darlington] that maybe I made a mistake taking my full paid maternity leave. My head was telling me at the time my reputation as a hard-working reporter was tarnishing by the day. Jeff responded immediately from a plane as he headed home from a game: ‘The sh*t I did at work yesterday is 1,000 times less important to the world than the shit you did with Michael yesterday. Stop.’ I smiled. He was right. So after three months of recovering from labor, raising my baby, learning all about motherhood, I’m so excited to share that I am returning to television on November 14.”
Russini figures to pick up right where she left off from last season’s coverage. She is a regular contributor to Sunday NFL Countdown, Fantasy Football Now, SportsCenter, Get Up, and ESPN Radio.
The reporter also signed a fresh contract with ESPN while on maternity leave.
“It’s such a special time to be covering the NFL,” Russini said in a press release. “There’s no better place to be doing it than at ESPN. I’m thrilled to be part of such a talented team—and I’m excited about the years to come.”