Why the late hits to Peyton Manning's legacy will leave a permanent mark
You can question the timing on these old allegations against Peyton Manning coming to light, but it's clear they'll leave a stain on a carefully-crafted public persona.
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6 min read
The legacy of Peyton Manning is becoming a bit more complicated. After decades of near-unanimous adulation, the narrative about the superstar quarterback has become a bit more murky and muddled.
The prism through which his career was viewed, from college until just before HGH allegations emerged in late December, has shifted now, at least for some. Things aren't quite as crystal clear and pristine as most would have perceived it even a few short months ago.
Whether you view his recent trials and tribulations as errant muckraking aimed to unfairly target a legend on the way out, or perhaps a telling portal into the Manning we didn't know, is a matter of personal preference at this point. But the fact that it is even a question now, a topic under some widespread consideration by America At Large, is a development in and of itself. It's become a part of this tale, and the mythology of Manning, at least to some, will never be the same.
The fact that mainstream America is now pondering issues like whether Manning shoved his genitalia on a female trainer's face when he was a 19-year-old star QB at the University of Tennessee, after years of the alleged incident being largely ignored or unknown, alters the scope of how Manning will be remembered. And whether he used human growth hormone to extend his career in the face of a possible career-ending injury is a matter of considerable debate as well, as Manning is vehemently denying using the substance though not the fact it was shipped to one of his residences in his wife's name.
These topics are gaining traction at the very time when Manning's triumph in Super Bowl 50 to win a second ring would normally be dominating the sports chattersphere. Instead the focus has shifted to how much truth there is in these allegations. All of this has entered the ethos of sport's talk radio -- as tainted a headspace as that often is -- and it's fodder for hot takes and, I dare say, that it's reaching a point where the story of this quarterback won't be able to be told without either potentially damaging scandal -- coming at opposite ends of his career -- being mentioned.
Whatever went on between Manning and Dr. Jamie Naughright, in both 1994 and 1996, we'll probably never really know. The inner workings of their relationship, given the various nondisclosure agreements and settlements, will likely remain a mystery. And obviously there was a reason why the 74-page legal filing by Naughright's lawyers became public when it did, and some will take issue with the timing and intent, and discredit it as old news that never resulted in any charges being filed.
But the mere fact it has entered the public conversation to the degree that it now has -- regardless of how many years after the fact -- is a genie that does not fit easily back into a bottle. Whatever transgressions that might have occurred, if there were any, clearly did so well before this era of social media exploded. Now it's taking on a second life (really a first life) as it thrusts its way into our collective discourse in a way that I dare say might not disappear again.
It's not going away, I don't believe. At least not any time soon.
The document filed by Naughright's lawyers casts Manning in exactly the kind of light to which any athlete and his handlers would want to avoid, and it runs particularly counter to the well-crafted image Manning has always projected. These allegations are sordid and ugly and it alleges a heinous act and a brutal cover-up and retaliatory actions. That Manning was recently named in a lawsuit by a group of women alleging the University of Tennessee created "a hostile sexual environment" is something impossible to ignore now, too. If it's a smear campaign, as some might label it, then it's one at least undertaken in the aftermath of repeated settlements regarding the quarterback, and time will tell if Manning fights back at this in so much as is possible given the various arrangements already in place. (Manning's agent, Tom Condon, did not return requests for comment or more information and context concerning the allegations in 74-page document that was revealed this week).
And short of Manning actually going through with a defamation of character suit against Al Jazeera, as he has publically dabbled with, then one would imagine there would not be a nice neat little bow placed on the issue as to why shipments of HGH were going to his house.
Determining the degree to which Manning is worthy of hero worship ain't as easy as it used to be. His ability to control this story is seemingly out of his grasp in a way few things have ever been regarding his professional career (injuries aside). While he generally found smiling faces and a gracious reception from the football media, the scope of this story and all it encompasses now takes it well beyond the bounds of a sports issue and instead projects it into the tacky and polarized world of 24-hour "news" cable stations.
Celebrating Manning in the moment, as he waits to announce his almost certain retirement, feels a lot less comfortable. A lot less pristine. The kind of allegations being levied here are far beyond, say, supposedly knowing about the potential deflating of footballs. If grounded in truth, they cannot be sloughed off as the actions of an immature college kid.
Regardless of what exactly transpired here, it might follow Manning the way that sexual assault allegations from Florida State will undoubtedly follow James Winston as his young career unfolds. Manning leaving the playing field won't make this go away, though trying to catch on somewhere as a free agent and spending 2016 in the NFL to do three or so media sessions a week would certainly only further it in the public eye, and fuel more inquires from the press.
Perhaps, Manning was merely mooning another player in the vicinity of a female trainer. Perhaps it is all a big misunderstanding. Perhaps, with him nearing the pinnacle of his professional career, the knives are now out, after all these years, and the very same extensions of the media that reveled in his fame are now seeking to bask in his demise. Only, like with the very nature of these PR crises themselves, I'm not sure it's as black and white as that. And I don't know how privy we'll ever be to these particular palates of gray.
But it's become very challenging now to write about all of Manning's massive achievements without noting these scandals. It's part of the story, along with all the records, all the regular-season greatness, the years of playoff failures and the ability to finally win a title again at the very end, tagging along and riding shotgun to the Broncos defense. All of the extensive charity work he has done and the bonds he has built in two communities and the legions of teammates and coaches who swear by him and the way he revolutionized the quarterback position still resonates, but, for some, it won't in the same way anymore.
It's all become a lot less neat, and a lot more challenging to address. It's become a bit more about what we don't know than what's etched, indelibly, in the record books and what will send him to Canton, Ohio. The perfect pitchman and the perfect quarterback has now been cast in a vastly different light. The guy who found a way to kiss Papa John and twice honor the almighty Budweiser brand on the way out just last Sunday with the entire world watching has now endured a rare week which was out of even his prolific reach, that spiraled in ways the notorious on-field control freak could never control.
The impressions it's made on the average football fan -- insomuch as there is one -- will become clearer as time goes on, and as these tempests either dissipate or rage further. That, too, however, might be out of Manning's scope, something not even a second Lombardi Trophy and all of those commercials can influence as the public referendum on the quarterback clouds what would have otherwise been a final coronation of the football god.
