Eagles

Wife of Redskins GM Accuses ESPN Reporter of Throwing BJs to Her Husband

By Kyle Scott

Published: Sep 2nd, 2015 · 10:01 PM EDT

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The Redskins headline I’ve been waiting to write!

Wife of Redskins GM Scot McCloughan, Jessica, tweeted (and deleted) the following to ESPN (and former NBC Washington) reporter Dianna Marie Russini (who was a guest on our podcast last year):

Black Sports Online grabbed the Tweet, which was apparently sent the other night, before it was deleted. Mrs. McCloughan had also previously tweeted Russini:

The Redskins promptly claimed that Jessica’s account was fake. They were lying. Jessica issued a statement to Pro Football Talk:

“I deeply apologize for the disparaging remarks about an ESPN reporter on my personal Twitter account. The comment was unfounded and inappropriate, and I have the utmost respect for both the reporter and ESPN. I regret that my actions have brought undeserved negative attention to the Redskins organization and its leadership. My comments in no way reflect the opinions or attitudes of the organization and I regret that my behavior has in any way negatively impacted the team and its loyal fan base.”

I have the utmost respect for both the reporter and ESPN. Yeah, OK. Sure ya do.

So did ESPN:

“Dianna is an excellent reporter who should never have to be subjected to such vulgar comments. We are obviously extremely disappointed by today’s developments.”

So, recap: The wife of the Redskins’ GM accused an ESPN reporter of blowing her husband. Stop. The Redskins – maybe the worst organization in professional sports – claimed the account was fake. Stop. Because they’re the Redskins, they were lying. Stop. The GM’s wife apologized for being a gigantic bitch. Stop.

Background: Russini has been crushing the NFL and NFC East-ish beat over the last few years. She made a name for herself while at NBC Washington and, admittedly, got an impressive amount of scoopage. But it’s worth noting that McCloughan has only been there for about eight months– Dianna’s been breaking news for several years. She’s been the recipient of ostensible cheap shots from Howard Eskin about the quality of her reporting, but typically her information turns out to be accurate. She was recently hired by ESPN, and just this week broke the news about Kirk Cousins being named the starter. Redskins tight end Niles Paul said he’s been wondering who the snitch was.

Whether it’s true or not, I’m team Dianna. If it’s not true, then the Redskins have just hit peak hilarity and the preseason hasn’t even concluded yet. The wife of the GM throwing out BJ accusations to a reporter, on Twitter, is the sort of thing that gets scrapped from a Ballers script because no fucking way that happens. And Dianna is 100% a victim who’s going to have this attached to her name forever, which sucks, but will get the DC lawyer of her choosing to sue the pants off the McCloughans and the ‘Skins. If it is true, McCloughan is an absolute idiot befitting his organization, and Russini is Zoe Barnes-level resourceful, but will have some serious work to do on SEO for her name. Either way, the Redskins are a disgrace and nothing excuses some of the abuse Dianna is taking on Twitter right now.