Skip Bayless hints at possible quid pro quo with Russini and Vrabel

Skip Bayless knows a thing or two about controversy. Before he was on ESPN and Fox Sports 1, he was the beat reporter for the Dallas Cowboys.

In fact, Bayless wrote three books about the team. “God’s Coach”, “The Boys,” and “Hell Bent.”

All three were best sellers, but it created a strain among the team he covered. To this day, ESPN NFL commentator and Cowboys Hall of Famer Troy Aikman still doesn’t deal with Bayless because of the things he wrote about him.

So, when he speaks on the Dianna Russini and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel situation, he knows of what he speaks.

A lot of the information for his books on the Cowboys came from sources inside the team, and he says there have been both male and female reporters who have crossed the line when trying to get a story.

“I don’t know what’s going on exactly between Dianna and Coach Vrabel; it’s not a good look,” he said. “I'm going to talk quickly about something no one ever talks about, and it’s the game within the game.”

“It’s the deal that gets made, the unwritten unsaid deal between a reporter/columnist and a star player or any player for that matter,” he said.

Bayless used an example of a player telling a reporter, "I’ll give you scoops here and there about the team for positive coverage."

“In my early days, I’ve seen several female reporters have something with an athlete or a coach and crossed the line, early on it outraged me because you selling out, Bayless said.

He continued to say that they were getting scoops and insider information on that team because of that relationship.

Bayless also saw the same thing among male reporters, becoming friends with an athlete or coach to the point of socializing together.

Bayless wondered if that’s how Russini was able to get information that A.J. Brown might be heading to the Patriots because of her association with Vrabel.

As of now, Russini is not reporting for “The Athletic” until they complete their investigation, and Vrabel won’t be doing pre-draft interviews right now, but the Patriots claim it’s not because of this.

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Skip Bayless hints at possible quid pro quo with Russini and Vrabel