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Running off the hype of his Super Bowl 50 win, Peyton Manning seemed to be living the good life. Injuries that plagued him for most of the season are now a distant memory and a looming retirement seems like a strong possibility for the Sheriff. This weekend, however, brought a completely new layer to the narrative of Peyton Manning.
Reports first broke on Saturday afternoon that Manning had formerly been accused of sexual assault while in college. According to official court documents from 2003, Manning allegedly assaulted athletic trainer, Dr. Jamie Naughright. Naughright was employed at the University of Tennesse until shortly after the incident.
Naughright reported the incident to the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Tennesse before deciding to leave the job altogether and move onto another job. The incident would haunt Naughright though who would later receive a draft of a book authored by Manning and his father which would include a scathing passage on her.
The documents released today, via a New York Daily News article, chronicle the assault in very strong and graphic detail which is unlike the great Peyton Manning we know and love. The release of the documents also brings into question Tennesse’s football program which has recently come under fire for separate incidents. Former teammate Malcolm Saxon has said that his choice to not go along with Manning’s explanation resulted in his dismissal from the program.
No matter what happened, it seems unlikely that we will ever get the full story. Right now, all we have are bits and pieces of what allegedly happened without any concrete evidence. Unfortunately, this is not the first scandal for Manning this year. An Al-Jazeera report earlier this year accused Manning of taking HGH while rehabbing a neck injury.
So far Manning has yet to comment on the assault claims. In addition, to the assault claim by Naughright, Manning was sued for defamation in 2003. The case came after Naughright received the draft of the book. This report could not come at a worse time for Manning who is deciding if it is time to hang it up for good.
