The facts of the case that Naughright filed contains more details about the alleged sexual assault by Peyton Manning and how the Mannings’ writing of their book prevented her from seeking employment outside of UT.
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The incident was not investigated by police, and Naughright’s lawsuit against Manning was settled a year later with the agreement that she leave the university.
The document includes the ensuing steps the Mannings and other members of the university allegedly took to discredit her or falsify what occurred. The sexual harassment complaint described the incident as a “mooning”, but in the defamation lawsuit, Naughright alleged Manning placed his “naked butt” on her face. They filed as Jane Doe I-VI and point to twenty years of incidents involving athletes at the university.
Manning played at Tennessee from 1994 to 1997. He said Naughright “had a vulgar mouth”, and that allowing women in the locker room was “one of the most misbegotten concessions to equal rights ever made”.
The organization can’t afford to get too cute, though, because in a quarterback-starved league, a bidding war could erupt for Osweiler if he does get to the market and with plenty of other free-agent headaches to deal with, starting with Super Bowl MVP Von Miller, the last thing Elway wants is Osweiler’s deal growing past his budgetary plans. After she said no, she looked up to find Manning had lowered his trousers and put his privates in her face.
Another part of King’s account, based on released documents, claimed former UT football player Malcolm Saxon contradicted Manning’s account about “mooning” him.
But in recent weeks, some tarnish has appeared on his shiny image – first in relation to a report about his apparently heavy-handed reaction to claims he’d used human growth hormones while recovering from neck surgeries prior to his signing with Denver, and now in regard to a pair of lawsuits (they’re on view below) related to his days as a college baller with the University of Tennessee and beyond. However, according to King’s Daily News piece, Saxon wrote a letter to Peyton Manning in December 2002 that he had nothing to hide and that Manning “messed up” by covering this assault up.
For Manning, if this new spin off an old story turns out to be true, it could be far more damaging than those HGH allegations from an Al Jazeera report, which were refuted by the original source and called “garbage” by him.
Bill Polian, the former Indianapolis Colts general manager and president who drafted Manning, told ESPN this week that the lawsuit’s brief mention of the old complaint “fits the definition of a smear… plain and simple”. The complaint listed 27 examples of sexual harassment and/or discrimination that Naughright was the alleged victim of or witnessed. Polian admitted that he never spoke to Manning about the specific event when vetting the quarterback before drafting him No. 1 overall in 1998, and he seems to believe that despite an admission of a less-severe offense, despite a punishment being administered to Manning, and despite numerous settlements out of court, nothing at all happened. She later reported the incident to the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.
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The court filing by Naughright’s lawyers only gives her side of the story. He wrote Peyton and family “knowingly, willingly, wantonly ruined the good name and career of Dr. Jamie Naughright”. However, Peyton denied disliking her in testimony of his own. There have also been murmurs around the league that Manning may work in an NFL front office or become a TV commentator.
