You likely remember the threatening voicemail John Dennis left for Ryen Russillo back in 2005. It still gets referenced on WEEI from time-to-time, and people bring it up to Dennis occasionally on Twitter. It seemed to been put on the back burner after Russillo gained a national name for himself working alongside Scott Van Pelt on ESPN Radio.
Until today.
Around mid-day today, Russillo tweeted the following (All Russillo’s tweets on this matter have since been removed.)
@ryenarussillo Always know, that when you looked in my eyes, you wanted nothing to do with me,you are a liar, and a fake tough guy @JohnDennisWEEI
That was followed by this:
To which Russillo responded:
@ryenarussillo @JohnDennisWEEI That’s one version, why didn’t you follow through on your promise? You threatened me, had me fired and then backed down.
Russillo is referencing when he was hired to join the Patriots radio network pre and post-game shows, and then was abruptly let go, without explanation.
Dennis responded:
SVP = Scott Van Pelt. Dennis is saying that Russillo’s co-host apologized for him, and said Russillo was out of line.
There was a final response from Russillo:
@ryenarussillo @JohnDennisWEEI You call me again, or we can get in a ring for charity. You in?
And nothing further from Dennis. Probably wise on his part. Why extend this out any further?
As you expect, BarStoolSports, who was involved from the beginning, is all over this: Ryen Russillo Vs. John Dennis Round II….Ding, Ding, Ding!
A couple of the major sports blogs have latched onto this story:
ESPN’s Ryen Russillo and WEEI’s John Dennis Nearly Got in a Fight at the ESPN Super Bowl Party - From TheBigLead.com.
John Dennis Says ESPN’s Ryen Russillo Is A “Stumbling Drunk Alcoholic” - From Deadspin.com.
Here’s an account from David Scott back in 2005, where he calls the original episode a “transparent attempt to gain attention on the part of Russillo.
However this ends up, it was a nice diversion the night before the Super Bowl.
