That light has somewhat dimmed now.
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After claiming Manning was named in the official report and the Title IX lawsuit filed by multiple women against the University of Tennessee, this narrative by ESPN fails to give any further details or information on Manning specifically and instead goes into how universities all across the country (Tennessee, Baylor, etc) need to handle sexual assault allegations better. Smith wondered aloud how especially during the last few years of intense scrutiny and independent investigations into the behavior of National Football League athletes towards women that a story about Peyton Manning being involved in a “Hostile Environment” against women at Tennessee could be swept under the rug.
Now, Sports Illustrated has separately tracked down multiple other documents from the defamation lawsuit filed against Peyton Manning by Jamie Naughright, along with documents from a separate lawsuit filed later regarding whether the parties complied with a provision in the settlement agreement requiring secrecy and confidentiality. They settled in 2003 for an undisclosed sum.
Manning played at Tennessee from 1994 to 1997. Athletic trainer Jamie Naughright was evaluating the then-19-year-old when he allegedly placed his exposed genitals on her head.
Manning described the 1996 incident in the book as a “crude… but harmless” locker-room exchange, with Naughright simply catching him “mooning” a fellow athlete.
For her depiction in the book, Naughright sued the Mannings, their ghostwriter John Warren Underwood, and the Harper Collins Publishing Company in 2001.
A motion – obtained by The New York Daily News – contained her version of the facts in the 2003 defamation case. And the last gasps of those still claiming that Carolina quarterback Cam Newton didn’t deserve to win the Super Bowl because he just doesn’t show the right kind of respect.
Additionally, the document says Rollo warned Naughright not to call the police and adds, “Unfortunately, the University of Tennessee didn’t want their star player embroiled in a sexual assault scandal”.
“So it was one of those things when he started choking up and everything, we was like, ‘Oh, is he gonna say it?’ He never said it but I think we all kind of got an idea (he would retire)”, Jacksons said.
The report that says that the Denver Broncos haven’t started contract negotiations with pending free agent quarterback Brock Osweiler “out of respect” for Peyton Manning is based on a faulty premise.
CBS News reached out to Manning and his family, the University of Tennessee, as well as the athletic trainer who made the original allegations, but no one has responded. Manning is not being sued or accused of anything in the latest suit.
“As we watch, write about and follow high school athletes throughout their prep careers, we believe a capstone event produced at a high level is an appropriate thank-you to them for their efforts and accomplishments”, Albrecht said. “At one point they even asked Dr. Naughright to blame her leave of absence after the Manning incident on another player”.
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The subject of Manning was of course brought up during the edition of First Take, and as you would expect Stephen A. Smith had some thoughts about all of this.
