That light has somewhat dimmed now.
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The 39-year-old football star was cited in a lawsuit filed by six anonymous women last Tuesday who claim the University of Tennessee violated Title IX by fostering a “hostile sexual environment” that allowed for sexual assault and rape allegations to be met with “deliberate indifference”.
She fought back, suing the Mannings and the ghost writer of the book in a defamation suit.
“It’s just a question of a person who’s lived a great life, great professional life, contributed to every community he’s ever been in, including the University of Tennessee, where a street is named after him”, Polian said of Manning.
Naughright’s sexual harassment claim involved a 1996 incident in which Manning exposed his buttocks as Naughright, then known as Jamie Whited, bent over to examine his foot in a training room. Manning denied the accusation, saying he was “mooning a fellow athlete”. In the document Naughright spelled out her side of the story for the first time: Manning didn’t just moon her, but pulled down his trousers and sat on her head.
Naughright, who did not reply to ABC News, filed a defamation suit against Manning, his father Archie, the book’s ghostwriter, John Underwood, and publisher, Harper Collins.
Peyton has not been charged with a crime or convicted of anything, and it’s fair to theorize that Archie and/or the University of Tennessee were the real ringleaders behind the apparent character assassination against Dr. Naughright.
The public also doesn’t seem to want the Manning-as-potential-villain story line.
In court papers, the incident is used to show the University of Tennessee was legally “on notice” of ongoing issues of sexual harassment at the school but did little to stop it.
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning watches the AFC championship trophy presentation following the NFL football AFC Championship game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Denver.
According to The Daily Beast’s Robert Silverman, whose piece was published February 1, the only discipline UT gave Manning was to take away his “privilege to eat at the athletic facilities dining room, and requiring him to run at 6:00 a.m. for two weeks”. Anheuser-Busch, the brewer of Budweiser, said Manning was not paid for the mentions, but Beer Business Daily had reported that Manning, who does many commercials in the United States, is the part-owner of a Bud distributorship in Louisiana. Days after Manning won his 2nd Super Bowl, after the Cam Newton sour puss story had died down, New York Daily News sent the interwebz into a frenzy dropping an article Saturday morning about the “Teabagging” incident. “So I don’t know if that was his last speech for a team, but you could definitely tell maybe it was getting closer”.
Shortly after the released of documents for alleged scandal, Sports Illustrated also released separate file from Manning’s camp. Networks may be reluctant to hire Manning if those allegations gain further credence and this case is pushed further into the spotlight.
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This is why this story matters, for reasons even beyond the ways in which it peels back Manning’s carefully curated image.
