- 16 hours ago
Seth and Sean talk with internet sleuth, Tony Farmer, host of the Last Man Standing podcast, about the important aspects of the Diana Russini-Mike Vrabel drama.
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00:00The Diana Rossini-Mike Vrabel story has been one of the biggest stories of the NFL offseason.
00:04It's a story that you're deeply in love with.
00:06I've enjoyed following.
00:07You love this story more than Mike Vrabel loves pontoon boats in Tennessee.
00:13Probably.
00:14I've enjoyed following this story.
00:16And our next guest, who is on the Texas Mattress Makers hotline, is Tony Farmer,
00:20internet sleuth and host of Last Man Standing Podcast.
00:23And if you've followed him on Twitter throughout this saga,
00:27and you can follow him at Tony's Market Tips on Twitter,
00:32he's had the most detailed coverage that I would say.
00:35So I'm looking forward to this conversation and talking about his coverage of it
00:39and where we think this whole thing is going.
00:42We'll also talk about how this connection was made on the internet yesterday as well.
00:45But Tony joins us on the show right now.
00:47Tony, good to have you on the show, man.
00:48How are you doing?
00:50I'm doing great.
00:51Happy to be here, guys.
00:51Thanks for having me.
00:52Yeah, for sure.
00:53Okay, so right out of the shoot, Tony, I'm going to play the audio from the tweet that
00:58you posted yesterday, capturing some of the audio from our show, where we talked about
01:04your tweet at Ted Johnson and Ken Laird of our sister station, WEEI up in Boston,
01:10looking to get on with them.
01:11And then we can talk about that a little bit, but legitimately interested in some other things
01:14about the story and your coverage of it as well.
01:16So here's the audio from Tony Farmer's tweet yesterday about Peyton Pendergast.
01:21All right, guys, really, really good example here of the dishonest media at work.
01:24This is from Peyton Pendergast, radio show out of Houston.
01:27I'd never heard of these guys, but go ahead and listen to their words about my tweet yesterday
01:33to Ted Johnson.
01:34Then I'm going to show you the actual tweet, and you can make up your own mind how full
01:37of s*** these guys are.
01:38So let's go ahead and listen to what they had to say.
01:40So this guy is now, this Tony Farmer, who's on Twitter, begging Ted Johnson and his co-host
01:46for, quote, at least 10 minutes on your show.
01:49Yeah, I'd love to come on for at least 10 minutes.
01:50At least, sounds like a demand, you know?
01:53It's just like, I'm going to need at least 10 minutes.
01:55Yeah, when you're asking time on somebody's show.
01:58All right, so you heard them say, one of them said, it sounded like a demand, and the other
02:02one said that I was begging.
02:04He said it a couple times.
02:05So here is what I actually said.
02:07You guys make up your own mind.
02:08I said, hey, guys, you said some things about me on EEI.
02:12I'd like a chance to respond.
02:13Respectfully, I feel misunderstood by both and would like an opportunity.
02:18Does that sound like I'm begging or demanding?
02:20I would like an opportunity to clarify things and defend myself from your words.
02:25Would love at least 10 minutes on your show or mine.
02:29Also open to a phone call on or off the record.
02:33So see, I gave four options.
02:34They're taking me out of context.
02:36This is Journalism 101.
02:37This is exactly how you take someone out of context.
02:41All right, so Tony Farmer, if you're just jumping in, is on with us right now.
02:45So just with respect to that yesterday, Tony, and I've told the audience already, and I
02:49think you've been listening, you and I communicated about this yesterday, and I'll say on the air
02:54what I said to you on Twitter, which is you are definitely correct in the hyperbole with
02:59which I categorized your desire to get on with Ted Johnson.
03:04Yeah, like that was hyperbolic.
03:07I will admit that, Tony.
03:08You know what I'll say, though?
03:09This is my perspective, Tony.
03:12This is Seth here.
03:12Nice to meet you.
03:13Is that I, and Sean's the one that only read the truncated quote, you know, and he's the
03:19one that said begging, begging, begging.
03:20That was me.
03:21But the way I was reacting to this, and I stand by this, so if I'm Ted Johnson, God,
03:29I wish I was as jacked as Ted Johnson, but if I were Ted Johnson, if I'm looking
03:33at the tweet, my reaction, as soon as I got to the turn of phrase, at least 10 minutes,
03:39that's where I would be triggered.
03:40I'd be like, hey, Leo, what the hell?
03:42And then I don't read it, and that's where the, so I, like, can we agree that, like,
03:46at least 10 minutes is kind of an odd turn of phrase, and maybe you meant to say a few
03:50minutes of your time or something like that?
03:53Yeah, that's fair.
03:54I mean, it was clumsy on my part.
03:55It was overzealous.
03:56Where that's coming from is every time I do a long-form interview, like your show today,
04:01people kind of come out of the woodwork, and they're like, Tony, I thought you were crazy.
04:04Like, I hear these little sound bites of you, but now that I actually have a chance to hear
04:08your perspective, I see where you're coming from.
04:10So that's where it was coming from.
04:11But yeah, sure, it was clumsily, clumsily wording on my part.
04:15It's kind of water under the bridge now.
04:16I mean, Sean acknowledging that it was hyperbolic.
04:18Oh, yeah, it's not, like, the biggest sin in the world or anything.
04:22No.
04:22I was just, I was kind of playing, role-playing as to, like, okay, if I'm reading this, how
04:27do I react?
04:28And I'm kind of hot-blooded at times.
04:31Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:33So, Tony, and we're joined by Tony Farmer, Last Man Standing podcast, and incredibly detailed
04:40coverage of the Diana Rossini-Mike Vrabel saga.
04:43I guess, Tony, just right out of the chute, I will admit that your coverage of this story
04:48is the first time that you've come across my radar, the same way us talking about your
04:52coverage is the first time Seth and Africa come across your radar.
04:55The coverage that you provided has been incredibly useful and detailed.
04:59I'm curious where your passion for this story comes from.
05:04Yeah, that's a good question.
05:05It kind of came in three waves.
05:06So, the first wave was when the Athletics first sort of defended Diana Rossini at the
05:11very beginning.
05:12You guys probably remember that.
05:13And I have a journalism background, and I've had friends who have lost their jobs for practicing
05:18poor journalistic ethics.
05:19So, that struck me as really odd, like, their reaction to that.
05:23That kind of first put my antenna up.
05:24And made me interested in the case the same way that, you know, a police officer might be
05:29interested in a crime movie or a doctor might be interested in a story about diseases.
05:33Just being, you know, a former, that was intriguing to me.
05:36But then where it really started to interest me and really pulled me in and made me curious
05:42was the bizarre reactions by people in the media.
05:46I have an article on my Twitter called 28 Head Scratching Decisions by Folks in the Media.
05:51Scott Zolak's comments, Dan Levitard's comments, the fact that Pat McAfee was silent for so long,
05:56the fact that the AP will not release her Coach of the Year ballot, even though they released
06:00Coach of the Year ballots last year.
06:01The fact that the NFL won't even look into and investigate this situation.
06:07Where is their curiosity?
06:09So, the combination of this strange behavior by people in the media has kind of raised my
06:15antenna more and made me more curious about it.
06:18And then that third wave that really makes me curious is the fact that there are taboo topics
06:25that nobody besides me are mentioning right now.
06:30The 2015 accusation with Diana Rossini one month after she was hired by ESPN.
06:35I know that that accuser recanted and apologized.
06:38Was that the Washington commander's situation?
06:41Yes.
06:42Okay.
06:42Absolutely.
06:42And by the way, yeah, sure.
06:46So, in 2015, a month after Diana Rossini was hired by ESPN, the wife of the Washington commander's
06:54GM alleged very publicly on Twitter that sexual favors were exchanged for stories.
07:00She recanted that story.
07:01She apologized.
07:02She said it wasn't true.
07:04But I do still think it has a place in this story, at least to be talked about.
07:09She's following me, by the way, on Twitter.
07:10I think that's interesting.
07:12But there's other taboo topics, too.
07:13So, wait, wait, wait.
07:14Who is she?
07:15She or she the GM's wife?
07:18No, no.
07:18The GM's wife.
07:19Gotcha.
07:19Okay.
07:20Jessica McLuhan.
07:21Gotcha.
07:21Follow me on Twitter.
07:21Sorry for clarification.
07:23But then there's other taboo topics.
07:25Nobody wants to talk about Diana Rossini's deleted Morgan Moses tweet.
07:28I think that's huge and very important.
07:30And nobody in the media will take that seriously.
07:32The fact that Diana Rossini is a coach of the year voter and Mike Rabel just won coach of
07:36the year.
07:36You know, so to answer your question, there are taboo topics that aren't being talked about.
07:41And that makes me more interested and makes me feel like I kind of want to fill the void
07:45since people like ESPN, et cetera, et cetera, aren't talking about this.
07:48It makes me want to talk about it more.
07:49Is it like ultimately, again, I don't want to make you sound like a crackpot or anything,
07:55but you could explore multiple different ways that this could go.
07:59Do you feel like there just might be way more potentially really inappropriate relationships
08:08that either Rossini or other journalists have had that you just, that you feel like people
08:13are keeping a lid on the whole, that they just don't want to let anything more out of
08:18the bag to lead to any more investigation?
08:22It's a good question.
08:23I don't know.
08:24I do feel like there's something bigger here and there always has been because I don't
08:29have another way to explain the bizarre reaction that we've seen from the media, whether it's
08:34what you just said or some other theory.
08:35I'm not sure.
08:36I'm curious, but I don't definitively know and I don't pretend to know.
08:40As you know by now, Sean and I are no journalists.
08:43We're very poorly trained for that job if we were going to be journalists.
08:46But like, what would the, I guess, what is the, like, what is the standard?
08:50Because this feels like such an atypical situation for journalists who have a relationship with
08:56Diana Rossini and yet who also cover the NFL.
09:00Like, how do you think they, I guess they should, and I'm genuinely asking, I'm not arguing here.
09:04Like, how should they be handling that?
09:07Yeah, it's a great question.
09:09I think every journalist knows that if you get too close to your source, that can be
09:13problematic and that you can lose your job.
09:15And if you do get too close to your source and you're writing a story about your source,
09:18you should disclose that.
09:20Like earlier, a couple of weeks ago, when I wrote a story about USA Today, I mentioned
09:24that I used to work for Gannett, which used to own USA Today.
09:26I disclosed that relationship so that the readers have that background.
09:31So that's kind of it.
09:32You don't get too close.
09:33And if you do, you disclose it.
09:35And so what we saw instead from Diana Rossini was, well, I guess, you know, and I'm sorry,
09:39sorry, I'm sorry to cut you off, Tony.
09:41I guess what I'm asking is the other, you know, the other journalists that you've pointed
09:44out have remained silent on this.
09:46So the other sports journalists, James Palmer, if they've worked with Diana Rossini, like what's
09:52either their obligation or their restrictions and how much they should be covering this story?
09:58I mean, this is just my opinion that they should at least acknowledge it.
10:01I think that if we're all OK as a society, sorry to get nerdy and philosophical on you
10:06guys, but if we're all OK as a society with these reporters who are friends with Diana
10:12Rossini and Mike Brable deciding not to cover the story or even acknowledge it, then we have
10:17to also be OK with a society where people who have a lot of friends are immune to media
10:22scrutiny.
10:23And to me, that's problematic.
10:25Just because you have a lot of friends in the media, you are not subject to the same
10:29media scrutiny as you or I, if we were to make the same decisions, that's problematic
10:33to me.
10:34So I think these folks should hide from it, at least acknowledge it.
10:38If they choose to not cover it, which is fair and understandable, at least acknowledge the
10:43situation and explain why they're not covering it, like some people have done, by the way.
10:46Many people have taken that route.
10:48Yep.
10:48Tony Farmer joining us here on Sports Radio 610.
10:51What was a reasonable expectation for the Mike Vrabel press conference earlier this week
10:56in terms of the questions asked?
10:57Obviously, it fell far short of what you were hoping for, I think, Tony, because I saw the
11:01video where you, we actually played some audio from your video previewing that, that press
11:06conference.
11:07What would have been a reasonable expectation in that press conference for Vrabel to get
11:12asked about that?
11:15Yeah, it's a good question.
11:16I think there's a lot of questions to be asked.
11:19For instance, who paid for the Sedona hotel room?
11:23I think that's important because if Mike Vrabel paid for it, then he paid a Coach of the
11:27Year voter and he just won Coach of the Year.
11:29We still don't know if Mike Vrabel has an incentive in his contract that pays him more
11:35money when he wins Coach of the Year.
11:36I think that any journalist would say those are fair questions.
11:40When did the relationship start?
11:42We don't even know that, guys.
11:43I mean, you guys had said on your show yesterday that I was beating a dead horse.
11:48And I'm like, how can I be beating a dead horse when questions haven't been answered?
11:52Questions haven't even been asked.
11:54We don't even know the basics of this situation.
11:57Nobody's explored the Morgan Moses tampering situation from 2025.
12:01Like, there are so many questions that haven't been asked.
12:04I put six of them up on my Twitter.
12:07And yeah, so to answer your question, just reporters having the courage to ask basic fundamental
12:14questions.
12:16Tony Farmer joining us.
12:17Hey, Tony, before we get you out of here, what just, this is purely probably a guess
12:22or an opinion, Diana Rossini has essentially disappeared since resigning from the Athletic.
12:29We've seen a few photos of her that have been posted, you know, New York Post kissing her
12:33husband on Mother's Day or whatever it was, but has not made a return in terms of doing
12:40an interview or being back out there publicly.
12:42What do you think that looks like when she returns?
12:45What would, what, what do you think is the best way for her to do this and maybe attack
12:49this topic, which it appears she may have been dishonest on?
12:54Yeah, it's a good question.
12:56I don't know.
12:57You know, I know WEI and PFT have come out and suggested the idea of an NDA that she might
13:04sign with the Patriots.
13:05I think that's all theoretical.
13:05I don't think there's any actual evidence of that, but if that happens, that would certainly
13:10change her approach when she comes out.
13:12So I think that's going to be a big factor.
13:14I think the fact that she deleted her Twitter is very interesting.
13:17That suggests that maybe she's not planning on going down this, you know, sports journalism
13:23road.
13:23It takes a while to build a following like that, but I don't really know.
13:27It's a good question.
13:28She certainly has options.
13:30She certainly has a lot of connections.
13:31So I think she will land on her feet and I think she'll do okay.
13:34What's the, the last, this will be the last one before we get you out of here, I promise.
13:38But what, what, what can you tell us about the traction this story has?
13:41I mean, you see your numbers and things like that, I would imagine in terms of engagement,
13:45what's your sense on where this story is in terms of its arc, so to speak?
13:51Yeah, I do.
13:52I do think the interest in the story is starting to wane a little bit.
13:56But kind of an issue to drop is the athletics investigation.
13:58Remember, even though Diana Rossini resigned, they're still doing what they call a lengthy
14:04investigation.
14:05And I think that if that investigation is made public and there's some bombshells in there,
14:09I think that that could certainly reignite this case.
14:12I think if the Patriots lose three of their first four games, that could reignite this
14:17case as well.
14:18And then obviously any sort of future photo dumps or anything like that.
14:21I mean, you guys heard Mike Rabel in his press conference.
14:22He left the door open for future things coming out.
14:25So I think those things are all possibilities.
14:27We heard that the same way you did.
14:29Yeah, at least I did.
14:30I know.
14:30I'm like, when Rabel's like, yeah, you never know what could happen.
14:33I'm like, oh, there's got to be 200 more pictures.
14:37Tony Farmer, you can get him on Twitter, at Tony's Market Tips.
14:41And I would say yes.
14:42And listen, I'm sure, like, honestly, and I'm saying this without sarcasm or anything,
14:46but like, Woodward and Bernstein were probably accused of beating a dead horse at some point.
14:50So it's, uh, that's what, uh, there's a, that's a, it's a very important role that people play
14:56in those, like actually getting it.
14:57I'm a little bit of a schmuck where I'm like, ah, I haven't heard anything.
15:00I just, I want to move on.
15:02All right.
15:02I got futures bets to think about.
15:04Not me.
15:04I got Tony's tweets favorited, man.
15:07Yeah.
15:07It's all good.
15:08At Tony's Market Tips on Twitter, so you can get him Tony Farmer, Last Man Standing podcast
15:12as well.
15:13Hey, Tony, we appreciate you making some time.
15:14I'm glad we made this connection and as you can tell, uh, we will be following along as
15:18you continue to, uh, provide your, your coverage of this story.
15:22Thank you very much.
15:24That was fun, guys.
15:25Thanks.
15:25All right.
15:25Thanks.
15:26You too.
15:26Appreciate it.
15:27Tony Farmer.
15:28Next segment, everybody.
15:29I'm going to disclose everything I know about Sean.
15:32Nobody's ever going to accuse me.
15:33You're going to need more time.
15:35Nobody's ever going to accuse me of just being straight because I'm too close to the situation.
15:39Why do you have to do it in a segment where there's no break at the top?
15:43It's too much stuff.
15:44I can't wait.
15:44Too much stuff.
15:46All right.
15:46Um, that was Tony Farmer.
15:47I enjoyed that.
15:48Okay.
15:48We got a little insight into the, uh, the coverage of the, uh, the, the Vrabel and Rossini story.
15:52That part of it, you know, the funny thing is I, I stand by the way I reacted to the
15:56way he phrased that request, even though we did truncate it.
15:59Um, uh, but which is no big deal at the end of the day.
16:01Yeah.
16:02I look what he probably should have had everything he maybe did, but it had an issue with it.
16:06It was us.
16:06I was saying, it feels like he's beating a dead horse at this point.
16:08Well, I like that's a, that is the part where, Oh, we're letting the wool be pulled over
16:12our eyes.
16:13Maybe so.
16:13Yeah.
16:13Maybe so.
16:14Yep.
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