Opinion: On Peyton Manning, Clay Travis and the way we talk about sexual assault

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The allegations of sexual assault raised against former UT quarterback Peyton Manning are serious and important, and should be treated as such.

Manning is coming off his second Super Bowl victory, in what was probably the last game in his NFL career. While he is celebrating the victory and considering the future of his career, the Daily Beast and New York Daily News published articles shining a light on a dark incident in the quarterback’s past. Twenty years ago, Manning was involved in a possible sexual assault in the locker room with then-athletic trainer, Jamie Naughright.

After Robert Silverman’s piece for the Daily Beast and Shaun King’s more divisive work in the New York Daily News, several other outlets and writers have covered the story. SB Nation’s Adam Stites and TNJN’s own Adam Milliken are just two examples of writers that have published their own reports. Here is a rundown of the major events in the scandal:

• In February of 1996, there was a locker room incident that occurred between Manning and athletic trainer Dr. Jamie Naughright (then known as Jamie Whited). Manning claims that it was a mooning aimed at fellow student-athlete Malcom Saxon. Naughright, however, alleges that it was a more direct assault aimed at her: “It was the gluteus maximus, the rectum, the testicles, and the area in between the testicles. And all that was on my face when I pushed him up and off.” Naughright claims that she was asked to alter her story and blame a black athlete for the incident.

• The 1996 incident was the second between Naughright and Manning – in 1994, a dispute occurred between the two that was settled in court. The details are not known at this time, as Naughright’s statements were redacted from the court documents released by King. Deadspin has reported that court documents suggest it may have involved Manning being accused of academic fraud, though nothing is confirmed.

• Naughright left Tennessee in 1997 as part of a $300,000 settlement for actions that included the 1996 Manning incident. More information on the discrimination complaint that led to the settlement can be found at Deadspin. Naughright later took a job as a trainer at Florida Southern College.

• In 2001, Manning and his father, Archie, co-wrote a book titled “Manning: A Father, His Sons, and a Football Legacy”, in which they wrote about the locker room incident. Manning described Naughright as having a “vulgar mouth”, describing an incident at the University of Virginia, where Manning claimed that Naughright referred to him and four other student-athletes with profane language. None of the other athletes on the trip confirmed this story, with one specifically contradicting Manning by claiming that Naughright never used such language.

• While at Florida Southern in 2001, Naughright received an envelope addressed to “Dr. Vulgar Mouth Whited” that contained excerpts from Manning’s book, which Naughright believes led to her demotion at her new job. Naughright sued Manning and his father for defamation due to the “vulgar mouth” description. A judge in the defamation case believed that there was enough evidence to suggest that Manning lied about his description of Naughright and the incident that occurred in the locker room. The two parties reached a confidential settlement.

• Saxon, the athlete Manning claimed to have been mooning, wrote a letter to Manning in 2002, in which he asked the quarterback to tell the truth about the incident: “First, I have stuck to my same story throughout this drama,” the letter read. “I have never been on Jamie’s side or your side… I stuck to the truth and lost my eligibility for it. My red-shirt request sat on [then head trainer] Mike Rollo’s desk for months… Please take responsibility here and own up to what you did… You might as well maintain some dignity and admit to what happened.”

• Manning is sued by Naughright again in 2005, this time for breaking a nondisclosure agreement by discussing the locker room incident in an ESPN special. Eventually, another settlement was reached.

The sudden surge of media reports on Manning’s past has sparked a lot of discussion, with a number of sports commentators offering their opinions on the events that have unfolded over the past 20 years. Most notably, Fox Sports’ Clay Travis wrote several articles in which he explained why he believed the story should not have resurfaced. He began by launching an unfair and outrageous attack on Shaun King, the author of the New York Daily News article, calling him a “fake black guy” and stating that he is racist. King is a divisive figure, but opinions on him are irrelevant when discussing the court documents he revealed in his article. These documents are only from the perspective of Naughright, but they are still important pieces of evidence to consider when discussing the issue of Manning’s possible sexual assault.

Travis later wrote an article attempting to disprove Naughright’s claims, with “11 things that everyone should now about the case.” However, only five of Travis’ points relate to the Manning story, and some of those have connections that are loose at best. The article also includes another attack on Shaun King and the New York Daily News (calling both the writer and his editors “idiots” and claiming that King was “clearly acting with malice”). Travis continued to refer to the incident as a mooning and referenced his own career as a lawyer several times while repeatedly dismissing the concerns that people had with his original article (referring to these people as “PC bros”). When tweeting about the article, Travis used the caption “Peyton Manning is 100% innocent and the media has totally blown its coverage of this story.” When asked in an interview how he was so sure of Manning’s innocence, he claimed that Naughright is a proven liar and called her “unstable.” Travis raises some interesting questions about the case, but they get lost in the article, buried beneath narcissism and insults aimed at King.

The other main argument being raised in support of Manning is that the story is old news that is no longer relevant. This could not be further from the truth.

The incident may have occurred in 1996, but the University of Tennessee continues to deal with issues related to sexual assault. Six women have filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the school has fostered “a hostile sexual environment and culture” that enables sexual assaults by student-athletes. The Manning incident was cited as an example. The recent arrest of UT defensive tackle Alexis Johnson has certainly not helped the school’s image.

This issue is far bigger than the school and its football program, however.

It is time to rethink our perspective about athletes who behave poorly or break the law. Allegations of wrongdoing are too easily dismissed solely because an athlete holds the popular persona of being a “good guy.” Too often, accusations are ignored if the accused is an athlete important to a team or a legend like Manning. Sexual assault and violence against women have become interlinked with the world of sports. The athletes that are accused of committing such heinous acts often get off with a punishment that does not come close to the severity of the crime. For every Ray Rice, whose career may be over after his assault scandal, there are several cases like that of Greg Hardy. Hardy was let go by the Carolina Panthers after being accused of physically assaulting a girlfriend, played for the Dallas Cowboys last season and was called a “leader” by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. More relevant to UT, when Naughright presented former football coach Phil Fulmer with a proposed overhaul of disciplinary procedures for athletes, Fulmer reportedly returned the document after writing on it “11-1, that’s all anybody cares about.”

Of course, not every athlete accused of such a crime is guilty, and unless it is proven that they are, the accusation should not haunt them their entire career. That does not give us the right to ignore them entirely, however. When these allegations are made, we must avoid attacking the victim and downplaying the severity of the actions by calling the action a prank. Sexual assault and violence are issues that need to be discussed maturely, by all sides in a case.

As cultural icons, major athletes have a responsibility to hold themselves to a higher standard. These men in the public eye have a unique opportunity to redefine masculinity as we move forward. Too often, we have a violent and angry example set for us, as athletics threatens to become synonymous with violence against women. It is up to the athletes to set a better example, but as consumers of sports, we have a powerful voice. We also must hold those who commit crimes accountable for their actions.

We will likely never know the full story of what happened that day in the locker room, and it ultimately may not matter. What is more important and relevant today is that changes need to be made concerning the way these cases are treated, both at an institutional (including at our own university) and personal level. These changes start with the way we view and treat accusations of sexual assault by athletes. The University of Tennessee is in a unique position to lead this movement of creating a climate of accountability when it comes to sexual assault in the world of sports. We should not be afraid to meet that challenge head on and rethink the way the game is played.

Edited by Cody McClure

The opinion of our writers/bloggers are not a reflection of the opinion of the Tennessee Journalist as a whole.

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