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What Are The Allegations Against Peyton Manning?
NY Daily News
Thirteen years ago, USA Today obtained 74 pages of explosive court documents o
n Peyton Manning, Archie Manning, the University of Tennessee, and Florida Sou
thern College that revealed allegations of a sexual-assault scandal, cover up,
and smear campaign of the victim that was so deep, so widespread and so ugly
that it would've rocked the American sports world to its core. Yet USA Today n
ever released those documents for reasons I can't explain.
Mel Antonen, now a baseball writer for Sports Illustrated, wrote about the doc
uments for the paper on Nov. 3, 2003. Three days later, Christine Brennan, lon
gtime sportswriter for USA Today wrote an op-ed about Peyton Manning and the d
ocuments entitled, “Do you really know your sports hero?” but the scandal pr
etty much died right there.
Facebook wouldn’t be invented for three more months. Twitter didn’t come for
three more years. The word “viral” was still only being used to describe th
e spread of infectious diseases.
But when the documents were sent to me on Tuesday, two days after the Super Bo
wl, it was immediately clear to me that had the world actually known what they
contained, it’s doubtful that Peyton would have ever been the “swell, golly
, gee-whiz” pitchman for Nationwide Insurance, DirecTV or Papa John’s Pizza.
Certainly, evangelical op-eds calling him “squeaky clean” and positioning P
eyton as the arbiter of all things good and decent in the world simply wouldn
’t be the case.
But as his career winds down, we're left to grapple with the reality that ther
e is credible evidence that Peyton and the Manning family knowingly, willingly
, wantonly ruined the good name and career of Dr. Jamie Naughright, a respecte
d scholar, speaker, professor, and trainer of some of the best athletes in the
world.
On the morning after Super Bowl 50, I posted a picture on my Facebook page of
Cam Newton smiling and embracing Peyton Manning after the game and simply aske
d why that warm photo wasn't being talked about instead of Cam being frustrate
d at the post-game press conference. It has since been shared more than 234,00
0 times and seen by more than 20 million people. It now has nearly 6,000 comme
nts, but on that morning, just one leaped out at me, which mentioned something
to the effect of "Peyton sexually assaulted a girl in college."
Now, I get a lot of crap posted on my Facebook page, but I decided, on a whim,
to Google "Peyton Manning sexual assault University of Tennessee." That's how
I discovered the two old USA Today articles about the case. Later that day, w
hen I wrote an article on the racial double standards in the media between Pey
ton Manning and Cam Newton, I decided to mention the sexual assault case, and
how the allegations had somehow slid right off of Peyton like virtually every
other mistake he has ever made in his career.
Less than 24 hours later, a source who claimed to see my article on the racial
double standard, sent me a 74-page court document from Polk County court in F
lorida. Sitting in the San Francisco airport, waiting for a flight home, I ope
ned the PDF, began reading, and felt like I had stumbled on to state secrets.
I literally moved to where nobody could see my computer screen.
While Peyton Manning is not the president of the United States, in a land wher
e football is king, he is the Captain America of sports and certainly one of t
he best quarterbacks of all time. He's also a prolific pitchman, the friendly
face of several multi-billion dollar corporations.
This document says, in essence, that it's all a facade, an act, a well-designe
d for-profit creation, maintained and manicured at all cost. For me, it was li
ke reading proof that the first Apollo moon landing was really a fictional tal
e filmed in a Hollywood studio designed to dupe us all. That flag, planted in
the moon, seemingly blowing in the wind, was a ruse after all. Maybe B.o.B. wa
s right on this one fact.
I read every single page in the airport before I boarded my flight. Maybe a go
od hundred times, I wondered to myself, Why — and how — had all of this been
kept secret for so long?
Titled "Facts of the Case," and submitted to the court by the plaintiff's lawy
ers, the document, which warrants many more takes and reflections than what I
will offer today, is simultaneously shocking, disgusting, painful, and infuria
ting. It offers us the living, breathing human names and faces of the individu
als the American sports machine is willing to mow down in the name of profit a
nd fame.
To begin with, Dr. Jamie Naughright was not "a girl" sexually assaulted by Pey
ton Manning; she was an esteemed professional widely admired by students and p
eers alike at the University of Tennessee, where she was the Director of Healt
h & Wellness for the Men's Athletic Program. Originally from New Jersey, Naugh
right had made Knoxville her home away from home.
In 1991, she earned her B.A. from the University of Tennessee in Exercise Phys
iology with a Minor in Football Coaching (I didn't even know such a minor exis
ted). A year later, with a 3.7 GPA, she earned her Master's Degree in Health E
ducation and Promotion. A few years later, with a 3.925 GPA, she earned her do
ctorate from the University of Tennessee in Health Education and Wellness.
In fact, Jamie Naughright had been a staple across all sports programs at the
University of Tennessee and had more tenure than most of the football staff, i
ncluding the head coach at the time, Phillip Fulmer.
Starting as a student in 1988, Naughright devoted her entire life to the Unive
rsity of Tennessee athletic program. She was a student trainer for the women's
athletic programs and a supervisor for intramural sports on campus. From 1989
-91, she was the student trainer for the men's athletic department. After earn
ing her bachelor's degree and entering grad school, she became the graduate as
sistant trainer for the men's athletic program for two years. Gifted and respe
cted throughout the campus, she was hired as the assistant trainer for the ent
ire men's athletic program in 1993, following a year as a full-time intern.
After two years in that role, she was hired as the Director of Health and Well
ness for the Men's Athletic Program. In that position she developed widely acc
laimed educational and medical programs for students and oversaw the drug test
ing of all of the male athletes. She presented academic papers, served as an i
nstructor and lecturer for college courses, and traveled frequently with stude
nts and staff to conferences all over the country. She started successful comm
unity projects and raised funds for local charities.
While serving as the Director of Health and Wellness, Naughright also was the
head trainer for Tennessee's track and field program, which includes cross cou
ntry, indoor, and outdoor athletics. In that position she hired and trained 25
staff members, oversaw all medical care for every track and field athlete, se
rved as the medical director for large events, coordinated annual physicals an
d supervised weekly drug testing. So many athletes — which would eventually i
nclude medal-winning Olympians — developed such a deep respect for Dr. Naughr
ight that she would be requested to travel with them to international events a
nd world championships.
In addition to all of her other responsibilities, Naughright served as the ass
ociate athletic trainer for the men's football program. Where you live probabl
y determines how much you know or care about Southeastern Conference football.
But in small- to medium-sized cities across the south — places like Knoxvill
e, Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, Gainesville — SEC football is just a little more
important than God. The years Naughright was employed as the associate trainer
by the men's football program, from 1996-98, were arguably the three best yea
rs in the modern history of the program, as the team won back-to-back SEC cham
pionships and the national title. Dr. Jamie Naughright was as an absolute forc
e of nature in the University of Tennessee's sports program.
At that time, Naughright's education, training and ascension through the ranks
of the University of Tennessee's athletic program should have culminated, aft
er more than 10 years of service to the institution, with her being able to la
nd any job she wanted. When football teams win SEC championships and national
titles, key employees can pretty much dictate where in the sports world they w
ant to work next. If Dr. Jamie Naughright was a man that likely would've been
the case for her as well.
As an undergraduate in 1989, Naughright, who had interned for a year with the
women's athletic programs (including the world-famous UT women's basketball te
am), was transferred to the men's programs. According to court documents and a
ffidavits, her boss, associate trainer Mike Rollo, perceived Naughright to be
a lesbian. Rollo, who had just left working with a group of young women he als
o thought to be lesbians, allegedly began calling Naughright "c