USA Today reporter Lindsay Jones is being crushed on Twitter by those who feel she was out of line for asking Peyton Manning about his sexual assault case during the quarterback’s retirement press conference on Monday.
In the middle of the news conference, Jones asked Manning for his thoughts on the sexual assault incident from his college days at Tennessee, which received renewed attention in the weeks leading up to and after the Super Bowl.
Here’s the question and answer from Manning:
Many felt that Manning’s farewell press conference, which was celebratory in nature and overall feel, was not the right time or place for such a question. Jones defended herself on Twitter for her choice:
Manning deserved a chance to respond to what everyone has been saying about him for the last month. I had to ask.
— Lindsay Jones (@bylindsayhjones) March 7, 2016
She recognized that the line of questioning would make her the target of backlash from fans, and she was right.
Here is a sampling of the messages she received on Twitter in response:
Pretty tasteless & classes of @bylindsayhjones. Smh. Trying to make a name by traducing Peyton Manning. Not the time nor place. Sad.
— #ThankYouPeyton (@ARDFootball) March 7, 2016
@mize161 @bylindsayhjones She's trying to be a hard hitting 'journalist' and the question fell flat. He responded great to a stupid question
— A Boy's Best Friend (@IsHisMother) March 7, 2016
@bylindsayhjones there are times for hard questions and getting to bottom of what happened, today wasn't the day. You were out of bounds
— Kevin Chambers (@kevinchambersCO) March 7, 2016
@EricGoodman @bylindsayhjones F minus what else does she do for the boss? Disrespectful at that moment.
— TCO (@The_colororange) March 7, 2016
@bylindsayhjones you are scum for asking him this on his special day!
— Lori (@goldens1025) March 7, 2016
Fans are fans for a reason. They take it upon themselves to defend their favorite athletes. But they need to understand the media has a job too, and that is to seek truth and ask questions. They are not there to celebrate when there are pertinent questions to be asked.
