Alleged Peyton incident cited in Tennessee suit

That light has somewhat dimmed now.

There have been several sexual assault complaints against Volunteers student-athletes over the last four years, but the incident that drew the most notice last week occurred two decades ago and involved former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning.

“When institutions like the University of Tennessee tacitly condone violence against women by ignoring cases of sexual assault by student-athletes, it perpetuates a risky culture of violence that ultimately hurts women everywhere”, said Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet, in a statement.

This suit is not going after Manning but using the incident, which was well publicized in 2003 in Knoxville and nationally, as one example of behavior the university tolerated.

Manning was never the subject of a police investigation, and the lawsuit was settled a year later with the agreement that Naughright would part ways with the school. The UT lawsuit cites a USA Today article from 2003 about the woman’s subsequent lawsuit against Manning for his reference to her in his book.

Peyton also mentions in the book that Naughright “had been accumulating a list of complaints against the university that she meant to take action on – alleged sexist acts that, when her lawyer finally put it together, resulted in a lawsuit charging thirty-five counts of sexual harassment”.

Archie Manning told Underwood, the ghost writer of the book, that his son told him Naughright was having sexual relations with athletes, and no one corroborated this claim under oath. Now let’s keep in mind it does not make much sense for Naughright to make this story up, as the Manning boys tried to say that she did. Why? That incident has spawned multiple lawsuits and received the bulk of the media coverage, which has been heightened this week after the New York Daily News published a court document Saturday from Naughright’s legal counsel tied to one of those lawsuits. Naughright alleged that Fullmer said. Bob Kravitz of WTHR.com, who covered Manning throughout his time with the Colts, offered up a simple explanation on Monday’s PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio.

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.

The NFL won’t touch this with a 100-foot pole but the Mannings have become legendary for wanting things all their own way. That’s why this is really not a Peyton Manning story.

The past two months have rocked the emotions of Peyton Manning and his family. Athletic trainer Jamie Naughright was evaluating the then-19-year-old when he allegedly placed his exposed genitals on her head. The recent win at Super Bowl 50 got him his second championship win.

Making a woman feel less than a man simply because the man is an athlete and makes money for the school is wrong on multiple levels. “You can butt up to that line and cross that line, taking that final step saying, ‘I am moving on.’ Even if the first 99 percent are easy to get there, the last one percent is as hard as that first 99 percent”. Fulmer, according to the report “said that the specific comment made by an athlete was “seriously rebutted” by the staff, facilitators, and numerous athletes”.

Smith is echoing the sentiment of a lot of people, because if you look at some of the reactions to the reports in the lawsuit, some are indeed of the belief that Manning is getting a pass because of his squeaky clean image.