Peyton Manning is retiring amid major controversy
He’ll probably still become a celebrated Hall of Famer
Peyton Manning, two-time Super Bowl champion and professional football’s good ol’ boy, stood teary-eyed and tight-throated in front his framed No. 18 Denver Broncos jersey March 7 as he announced his departure from the NFL.
The retirement of a storied athlete is not unlike a death. The media will howl the funeral dirge, celebrating Manning’s victories, statistical achievements and genteel character. It will debate where to place the quarterback in the Best Ever pantheon. Analysts, color commentators and football colleagues have already portrayed Manning —affectionately nicknamed “the Sheriff” — as the NFL’s ambassador to the world, “riding off into the sunset.”
And as at all funerals, it is uncouth is to speak ill of the dead. Manning leaves the game amid the most intense controversy he has ever faced. In December of 2015, a month before the Bronco’s Super Bowl win, Al Jazeera reported that Manning’s wife had received shipments of human growth hormone in 2011 as Manning was recovering from neck surgery. Manning did not deny that his wife had received the drug, but angrily dismissed the idea that he’d used the performance enhancing drug as “complete garbage.”
But even as Manning and his teammates were preparing for the Super Bowl, another story about the quarterback’s past bubbled up again in the press. In 1996, when Manning was the University of Tennessee’s star quarterback, a former team trainer named Jamie Naughright said Manning had pulled his pants down and placed his genitals on top of her head as she was examining his ankle.
Manning was never the subject of a criminal investigation, but the university did settle with Naughright for $300,000. In 2002, Naughright filed a defamation and libel lawsuit against the Mannings, claiming Peyton and his father, Archie Manning, disparaged her in a book they’d written together.
Now Manning is under scrutiny again for the sexual assault allegation after Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King posted a lengthy article detailing the “cover up” of the sexual assault.
During Manning’s retirement press conference, only one journalist, USA Today’s Lindsay Jones, mentioned the allegations. Manning quickly dismissed the question saying, “It is a joyous day, nothing could overtake from this day.” He then finished by quoting Forrest Gump: “That’s all I have to say about that.”
Were the allegations against Manning an impetus for his retirement? Probably not. Manning, who turns 40 later this month, had his worst year ever as a player. He had the second highest interception rate for a starting quarterback during the 2015 season. His fused neck and torn plantar fascia will not get any better.
What is at stake for Manning is his legacy. According to Forbes, Manning is the most endorsed NFL player, garnering over $12 million annually. His list of sponsors is as impressive and long as his football stat sheet. He has deals with Nationwide, Papa John’s, Nike, DirecTV and Gatorade, to name a few. If Manning is found guilty of abusing performance-enhancing drugs and sexual assault, will that affect his ability be a corporate mascot?
Probably not, actually. If history is any indicator, Manning’s wrongdoings will have no bearing on his future Hall of Fame induction. Members elected to the NFL Hall of Fame are selected by a committee of 46 members of the media. The NFL’s bylaws specifically state that only the candidate’s on-field performance and characteristics are to be taken into consideration during the selection process.
In February, Sports Illustrated writer Peter King was asked if Darren Sharper—one of the best safeties of the aughts and recently sentenced to nine years in prison for serial rape — should be considered for the Hall of Fame. In response, King tweeted, “If I said, ‘I will not consider Sharper for induction because he has been accused of multiple rapes,’ I would resign from the committee.” King wrote in favor of the NFL bylaws that disregard a candidate’s off-field character.
Lawrence Taylor, the former New York Giant linebacker, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999 despite failing multiple drug tests during his career. Taylor also pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct involving a minor in 2011. He remains in the Hall of Fame. Even O.J. Simpson remains a member.
It is doubtful that Peyton Manning will be mentioned alongside the NFL’s more notorious wrongdoers, but he will ride off into the sunset with a small asterisk.
