Crissy Froyd lost her contract with the news outlet after dissing a fellow reporter, who was photographed holding hands with a coach.

Fired USA Today NFL reporter shares message she received prior to termination over Dianna Russini comments

Crissy Froyd lost her contract with the news outlet after dissing a fellow reporter, who was photographed holding hands with a coach.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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April 17, 2026 5:08 p.m. ET

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Crissy Froyd was fired from USA Today. Credit:

Crissy Froyd/Instagram

- NFL reporter Crissy Froyd has shared a message she allegedly received from *USA Today* before being fired because of comments she made slamming a fellow sports reporter for allegedly dating a coach.

- The newspaper directed ** to its previously shared statement.

- Froyd has since defended herself, because she once dated a member of a college football coaching staff.

This calls for a time out.

*USA Today* announced Thursday that it had cut ties with NFL reporter Crissy Froyd due to her social media comments about fellow reporter Dianna Russini. Russini recently resigned from her post as the Athletic's lead NFL insider after she was photographed holding hands with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel.

Although both Russini and Vrabel said the photos were taken out of context, Russini left the Athletic and posted her letter of resignation to social media on April 14.

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In a quote repost of Russini's letter, Froyd wrote, "I'm sure you were told to submit this or that you'd get fired instead. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. We know who you really are and what you've been up to for years. It does so much detriment to women in sports who have done things the right way."

On Thursday, Froyd posted a note that she allegedly received from her company "ahead of 2 phone calls," letting her know she's been dismissed. She called it "one hell of a woofer to send out to an independent contractor."

NFL reporter Crissy Froyd.

Crissy Froyd/Instagram

The message read, "Hello Crissy. I tried to call you but it wouldn't put me through. Reaching out about the issues being caused by your X posts surrounding the Russini situation, which has turned into its own news-making cycle which directly ties *USA TODAY *to your own independent posts off-platform."

The note continued, "Much of the Russini conjecture is unverified, and now your comments are now being linked by name to *USA TODAY* in several articles. As you can imagine, this is a serious issue for the company, as we would never publish such things on our platform."

USA Today NFL reporter fired over social comment on Dianna Russini's resignation post

New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and NFL reporter Dianna Russini speak out on vacation photos

** reached out to the outlet Friday and was directed to its original public statement about having cut ties with Froyd.

"USA TODAY Sports has ended its contractor relationship with Crissy Froyd effective immediately," *USAT* Sports spokesperson Lark-Marie Antón had said. "Her recent statements do not reflect our commitment to professionalism or uphold our principles of ethical conduct."

The developing story took yet another turn Friday when Froyd defended herself after she was called out for having dated a coach and former football player.

"Someone was like, 'Oh, like you slept with JT Daniels,' and I'm like, 'Well, yeah, that's my former partner,'" Froyd told Page Six. "I don't like having to respond to some of that stuff, but I finally was just like, if any of you have a claim with evidence that I have done exactly what [Russini has] done, I would love to see it."

Froyd told the outlet that she and Daniels dated between December 2023 and September 2025. Daniels announced the end of his playing career on December 1, 2023, and served as an offensive analyst for the University of West Georgia in the fall of 2024.

"A reporter having a relationship with the player that does nothing for them professionally to gain, especially a young one" is different, Froyd said.

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