There is a major dispute about what happened between Peyton Manning and former Tennessee trainer Jamie Naughright in 1996 that resulted in a sexual assault accusation that was later settled. But what’s not in dispute is that Manning did not like Naughright. Now we have our first clue about why that may have been the case.
The Washington Post’s Will Hobson indicated in an article on Friday that the reason Manning held a strong dislike for Naughright was because she may have accused Manning of academic fraud in 1994.
The lengthy court document released by the New York Daily News this week contained information from a defamation suit Naughright brought up against Manning in response to what he said about her in his 2002 book. The court document calls the 1996 sexual assault allegation in the training room — where Naughright says Manning stuck his genitals and rear in her face but he claims he was mooning a teammate in front of her — “The Second Manning Incident.” As the Post’s Hobson explains, Naughright’s lawyers explain that a first incident happened in the fall of ’94.
From The Post’s article:
The first, Naughright’s lawyers wrote, happened in the fall of 1994, and is detailed in a sealed section that follows the heading “Peyton Manning’s Motive & Malice.”
“In the fall of 1994, an incident occurred involving Peyton Manning which will not only explain the genesis for Peyton Manning’s dislike for Dr. Naughright, but will be relevant to understanding the 1996 incident,” Naughright’s lawyers wrote. The next three-and-a-half pages are blank.
Manning’s lawyers were able to get mentions of the ’94 incident redacted from all legal documents. However, Hobson notes that there is one passage that makes reference to potential Manning academic fraud that escaped redaction.
This Q&A comes from a deposition by Naughright’s lawyer of Tennessee athletic director Doug Dickey:
Q: “Do you recall it ever being reported by Carmen Tegano, or anyone else, that Dr. Naughright had spoken to Carmen Tegano about the possibility of Peyton Manning having committed academic fraud in that course?”
A: “No.”
Tegano is an associate athletic director who taught a class where Naughright also lectured. In a testimony in 2003, Manning denied ever being in a class with Naughright. Naughright was a guest lecturer for a class taught by Tegano but at some point she stopped ever teaching for him. Tegano, who still works for Tennessee, later said that he avoided Naughright because he wanted to avoid her karma.
Tennessee was implicated in a 1999 academic fraud scandal where Tegano was named as ignoring reports of tutors doing work for athletes. In 2015, Manning made a $3 million donation to Tennessee in honor of Tegano and another athletic department employee. Manning graduated from Tennessee in three years with a 3.61 GPA.
