My next guest is another fellow Bulletin creator, but also a star on ESPN's NFL Coverage. Dianna Russini went from college athlete, to news reporter on the other side of the country, to landing a dream role as an NFL reporter/insider at ESPN. But her drive to gain the knowledge necessary to be the best football reporter she can be is what stands out to me. Stay for the story about how she used to go back to her high school in north New Jersey early in her career covering football, to learn the nuances of the game. As a new mom, we discussed the challenges of the job, and how they've changed now as she adjusts to parenthood. And of course we talks shop, including the Chiefs early season struggles, and if the Arizona Cardinals are for real.
Stefano: All right another episode of straight from the source and today we got one of the most recognizable faces from ESPN. She covers the NFL you can see her NFL countdown NFL live sports center. All other ESPN studio shows as well as a publication right here on Facebook bullets and then we'll get to it we'll talk about soon my former coworker at the four letter network and now my fellow new jerseyan is how you say in New Jersey and San Diegans New Jerseyans and jerseyan works Diana received thanks for joining me, Dianna.
Dianna: Usually, if you just say you know, gym tan laundry, everybody knows it. That means that we're just from New Jersey. So that's usually how we, how we talk if you if you live in this beautiful state, easy way to put it.
Stefano: I'm obviously a little new in the state, but I love it so far. And you know, I was I was having I was having a conversation with someone else the other day, that was, uh, they were trying to explain to me how you should not have as many bagels here because you can kind of start rolling out of certain places. And I'm finding really hard to not get a bacon egg and cheese bagel almost every single morning.
Dianna: Whoever advised you is a smart person, because you can certainly gain weight pretty quickly here, the food, the food is just really good. Especially if you like Italian food. I feel like New Jersey has kind of honed in in that space. And it's probably why I'm I mean, there's a million reasons why I'm proud to be from New Jersey and it's funny over the years, it's really become part of my identity, you know, with with, with people that watch ESPN with fans of football. And it's funny because my family is originally from the Bronx. So we identify more with the Bronx because that's just, you know, we're all our roots are so New Jersey to me now has become sort of part of who I am. And I love it. I'm actually even honored that the people in New Jersey like to call me their own.
Stefano: I'll never forget, and if you haven't watched it, go look it up. Diana doing the impersonations of your mom. When you were on ESPN Radio, I think with Dan lebatard on his show. You sound just like my mother in law, which I feel like sound like everyone's mother in law here in New Jersey, but it was it's absolutely hysterical. So go look it up if you haven't seen it yet.
Stefano: So first off, congratulations on your new family. You're a new mom, a beautiful son. How much tougher is it to stay awake for those late games like a Monday Night Football game or a Thursday Night Football game. Now that you're a mom.
Dianna: So I am technically still on maternity leave right now. But when you're covering the NFL and when you're in season, to which I'll be returning soon, there's no taking off. There's no maternity leave from watching games. So while Sunday's are pretty packed because I'm trying to catch up on everything. Those late Sunday, Monday even Thursday nights have been killing me. Just because by the time the game wraps I like to watch a little bit of postgame stuff. My son is usually getting up for feeding so it works out in that sense because I'm already up right? I'm not coming out with sleep. But I know that I'm only gonna get about two more hours of sleep before he's up again. So I'm definitely trying to figure out a way to balance it all. I mean, you referenced my mom. She's helping me out tons and she doesn't truly understand that the little sleep I'm getting really doesn't have that much to do with my son. It's more football. Football is the thing that's it's crushing me right now. But virtually the games, they've been incredible, and I haven't really had a chance to be at home to watch to take in football. That probably sounds funny to people; how can you cover the NFL but you don't watch football? I do, I just get one game on Sunday. So I travel on Saturday, I pretty much consumed all day with the game I'm assigned to. And I'm doing TV, radio and writing from seven in the morning all the way through the evening and playing catch up on all the other games on my flight home or even on Tuesdays. So it's been really thrilling, really. And I've been learning a lot about the league learning even more, just by being almost like a almost like a fan right now.
Stefano: What does a regular full work week look like when you're on? You know, from Monday through Sunday?
Dianna: Yeah, so my role at ESPN is Reporter/Insider, which I feel like in 2021, you're just one you know. It's not so much a hybrid like it used to be. So, I have responsibilities during the week for television shows, like "Get Up" with Mike Greenberg, SportsCenter. And so we call those, as you remember, TV days. So I'll have TV days actually on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the season where, I start really early and I just go through the whole day, like marathon days of just basically going on every show that you see on ESPN, sharing the information I was able to gather. Whether it's injury related, or storylines that I'm following or perhaps maybe a story that I'm breaking on that day. So those are usually my days. Then Saturday morning, usually before 10 am, I'm on a flight to whichever city I've been assigned to that week to cover a game on Sunday. Very rarely can I get out on Sunday night. So I'm usually flying back on Monday and we start all over again. You know one of the things that I've explained to people about the role, because you know someone like my husband will joke and say 'Well you only work three days a week.' You may physically only see me on TV 3 days a week, but there's so much that goes into it. Because when it is your day, you need to come with as much information, and opinions even in some situations, to really a stand out and survive at ESPN, which has so many talented people. So it's constant. I'm on my phone all the time. All the time. It drives everybody in my life crazy, but it's become really the most important tool of my life. Not only are you receiving information, right from sources and from people that you talk to in the league, it's keeping up with the week. That's always the work that I think people always say people they don't get. It's the so called muscle that people don't understand that we have to constantly work out because if you don't know what's happening, you're lost and you're already behind the ball. So you better figure out a way to always stay on top of it. Which is why during maternity leave one of the best things I did, and I would suggest this to anyone really in any industry. If they have access to it, listening to podcasts while you're doing things, while you're cleaning the house. For me, I was nursing at 3 in the morning, listening to Chris Long's podcast, Albert Breer, or Mina Kimes; anyone that was breaking down the day of action, I was tuning in. I just feel that the more you know, the more information you'll be able to get, because you'll know how to ask the right questions.
Stefano: Speaking of which...How important is it to your job to really continue to maintain those relationships, even if you're not getting information at that moment, but just kind of keeping the ball rolling with certain sources and contacts that you have around the league?
Dianna: 90% of the conversations I have with sources aren't even about football anymore. They're usually about things going on, because I've formed relationships with them. We're talking about the league and sometimes we're talking about our families, friends or whatever is going on, just to keep that relationship going. So since I've been out, I've actually spent a lot of time, scheduled time actually that I kind of carve out like, 'Alright, I'm going to reach out to 10 head coaches today I'm going to hit up five players that had a bye week, this week.' Sometimes it's just 'Hey, what's up?' Sometimes it's a venting session. You know, a lot of people in this league have a lot to say, and have their own issues, and they want to get it off their chest. Sometimes you're just here, not even to report but just to hear it. I almost feel like you're on call all the time. I had a really important conversation with my boss yesterday about my return date. I had a hang up with him because a really important source called me in the middle of it. I said to my boss, 'If I don't take this, I don't know when I'll talk to him again.' Sometimes they're not accessible to you, and you're kind of at the mercy of when they call you. I have already been in a situation where I'm getting my son in the car, and a player was calling me and I didn't take it because he was in my hands and I just needed a second to get him in the car seat. By the time I got settled, about 10 minutes later, I saw on Twitter that he had a been cut from his team. So I could have had that story and I missed it. So this is gonna be a really challenging new lifestyle for me. But I love it and wouldn't have it any other way.
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