Atlanta Falcons

Court document reveals allegations, details of alleged sexual assault involving Peyton Manning

By Corey Masisak
Feb 15, 2016

The New York Daily News released a 74-page document Saturday from a defamation suit levied against Peyton and Archie Manning in 2001 that includes several allegations of an incident between Peyton Manning and a female member of the University of Tennessee's training staff in 1996.

The document includes the ensuing steps the Mannings and other members of the university allegedly took to discredit her or falsify what occurred. The document, entitled “Facts of the Case” was filed by Jamie Naughright’s legal counsel in a defamation suit stemming from a book co-authored by the Mannings and ghost written by John Underwood called “Manning: A Father, His Sons and a Football Legacy,” which was released in September 2000.

The allegations from the document, which can be seen in full here, include:

While the previously reported incident between Manning and Naughright took place 20 years ago, it has been referenced in a current federal lawsuit levied against the University of Tennessee.

The lawsuit, filed by six women who name five current and former Tennessee athletes, claims that the university “enabled an environment of bad behavior and used a disciplinary system that favored the players,” citing more than a dozen incidents, including ones that hadn’t been previously reported.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs name Tennessee athletics director Dave Hart and football coach Butch Jones among those who were “personally aware” of previous sexual assaults and rapes committed by football players, but protected the interest of the football team rather than the victims of the crimes.

The lawsuit also alleges a former Tennessee player, Drae Bowles, was assaulted by teammates for driving one of alleged sexual assault victims to the hospital encouraging her to go to the police. Another player told police one of their teammates had put a "hit out" on Bowles.

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Corey Masisak

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