'I got on their bad side': Russini jokes about Vikings fans after Rodgers talk

The Vikings firmly planted their flag on the J.J. McCarthy hill this offseason. Despite near daily reports throughout free agency that the Minnesota front office was flirting with future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, the Vikings let Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones walk in favor of leaning into the QB they drafted with the No. 10 overall pick in 2024.

At the center of a lot of that reporting this offseason was The Athletic's Diana Russini, who was monitoring the pulse of the Rodgers situation through March, April and May before he ultimately signed with the Steelers in early June. Now, as she is set to visit Vikings training camp this week, it appears Russini is looking to mend fences with a fan base that grew tired of the frequent Rodgers to Vikings reports.

Russini was a guest on The Dan Le Batard Show on Tuesday, where she was asked why she 'hates' Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The veteran NFL insider tried to chalk it up to steady stream of Rodgers reports and her ill-fated guess on the Dan Patrick Show that Rodgers would be playing in Minnesota in 2025.

"In the offseason, I think I got on their bad side because there was a time where Minnesota was having conversations about bringing in Aaron Rodgers. And I made the mistake of doing Dan Patrick's show... Dan set me up, on purpose, and said, 'Alright, take a guess right now. If you had to guess, Aaron Rodgers will play where? This is just a guess.' And as a reporter when you guess, people think that's you saying that's what's gonna happen. And, I took a beat and I said, 'Dan, I think Aaron Rodgers will somehow wind up in Minnesota,'" Russini explained.

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"So, I think what happened, I think Minnesota Vikings fans took that as me going, 'The Vikings are out on J.J.' Whereas I was trying to say, 'Look, this team is built to win a Super Bowl. This is a young quarterback, coming off a significant injury, who is essentially in his rookie season now. Why not take a shot at Aaron Rodgers?'" she continued.

Do Vikings fans hate Russini? That's highly unlikely. As Russini noted, Minnesotans are nice.

"I feel like I'm going to land at the airport and people are going to throw eggs at my face. Leave it to me to fight with the nicest fan base in America," she said. "People from Minnesota are unbelievable... it's like a Minnesota Nice thing. Obviously, East Coast people, we're a little bit more direct, we'll scream in your face — we'll love you and hug you later but we share how we feel. Minnesota just, I think they feel the same rage we feel, but they just don't say it. Part of reason why I love going to Minnesota is because it's like, 'Wow! So this is a world where people are kind.'"

What Russini did was trigger a tortured fanbase with a former Packers quarterback — and she didn't just guess one time that Rodgers would end up with the Vikings. She was banging the Rodgers-to-Minnesota drum for a long time...

• Report: Vikings 'haven't made a decision just yet' on Aaron Rodgers (March 13)
• Maybe they're talking more than we realize': Do the Vikings, Rodgers have a plan? (March 18)
• Russini: Vikings aren't 'in' or 'out' on Rodgers, simply 'not ready to commit' (March 19)
• Russini says Rodgers is still on Vikings' radar, guesses he'll end up in Minnesota (March 21)
• 'It could happen': Russini tells fans 'to come to grips' with Rodgers possibility (March 28)
• Russini on Aaron Rodgers and the Vikings: 'I think there's still more to be told' (April 18)

Later in June, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Vikings "never got close" to offering Rodgers a contract, putting the reporting by Russini and other league insiders into question.

However, in her comments Tuesday, Russini left out the part where she publicly accused Vikings media of "lifting up" McCarthy during the offseason.

"It sounds like what you've noticed, and this is something I've noticed too, is that there is a lot of lifting up of J.J. McCarthy," Russini said on Colin Cowherd's show just last week.

Cowherd has become one of the most vocal detractors of the McCarthy this offseason. The constant reporting on Rodgers earlier this offseason may have been one thing, but agreeing with Cowherd and feeding his bizarre anti-McCarthy takes may have been pushed Vikings fans over the edge.