Isn’t it funny how they love you when you’re down, but the second you’re on top again they can’t wait to see you fall?
This is the case for everyone’s beloved football star Peyton Manning. The Sherriff as many call him, possibly gets to ride off into the sunset in a spectacular way by leading the Denver Broncos to a 24-10 win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. In the eighteen seasons with the NFL, Peyton Manning has been the quintessential gentleman for the NFL, however over the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl and in the days following, he has been the victim of a poorly constructed smear campaign.
This campaign has been spewing allegations of HGH use and allegations of sexual harassment that claim to have taken place during Manning’s time as a student at the University of Tennessee.
Normally, allegations like these are met with skepticism and promptly investigated by the National Football League, but it does not take more than a single glance to see that these allegations are nothing more than childish antics of improper “investigations” and the whining of people that are upset that the Broncos won the Super Bowl by taking out the heavy favorites, the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers.
The allegation of HGH use stems from an Al Jazeera report that attempted to link several prominent athletes to HGH and other performance enhancing drugs.However, I find it funny that this report only surfaces after Manning made a comment that this could be his “last rodeo,” instead of in 2011 or 2012 when he was recovering from a neck injury.
It seems like this report was nothing more than a bad attempt to tarnish the legacy of man who has left his mark on the game.
There are a myriad of reasons as to why this report should be placed in the proverbial garbage can, where it belongs.
Even if we ignore the fact that this report surfaced four years after his injury, when he is on the cusp of a second Super Bowl ring, and ignore the fact that the report’s star witness recanted his statement and said that it was taken on of context, there is still the fact that the agency, Al Jazeera, itself does not fully support the report and only infers that there may be a connection.
The second allegation that has surfaced arises from a distraught New York Daily reporter that seems to be upset with how the Super Bowl played out. Shaun King’s article brings to light a twenty year old incident that happened in the locker room where Manning allegedly placed and showed certain parts of his body to a Tennessee trainer while she was examining his foot.
My main issue is that when people actually think about the way King describes the incident in his article, it is physically impossible for the events to have transpired in that way for two reasons.
First off, the human body does not exhibit its appendages and orifices in such a way that Manning could have done what was claimed. The second reasons is that if by some odd twist of fate it was possible that Manning did in fact do what was claimed, then the only reason it could have happened was if the trainer was not looking at the front of Manning’s foot as claimed, but rather the back of his ankle.
As these “investigations” into the incident keep proceeding, I have noticed that it is not the trustworthy organizations that are shedding light onto these allegations, but rather the off shoot internet site that are as reliable as a wet match.
This has spiraled so far out of control that many organizations are asking for Peyton Manning to be fired as the spokesman for Nationwide and Papa Johns and for the NFL to ban him from playing football.
Those that are calling for Manning to be reprimanded for events that could have very possibly not occurred are calling for harsh acts considering this “happened” twenty years ago, well out of the statute of limitations.
It appears as if many groups who are arguing for Manning’s termination have forgotten that this is America, the land where you are innocent until proven guilty. Rather than being upset that “your team” lost or mad at the way that a certain team has played and conjuring up false allegations, it is time to own up and let those who are employed to truly investigate both of these claims do their jobs.
What needs to happen in this scenario is for everyone to let the real investigative agencies do their jobs and wait until the official statements are released because it seems like a big “I told you so” is in order after the NFL finishes.
This is where I, as a Manning and Broncos fan, have such issue with this smear campaign because at the end of the day, it does not matter if Manning is proven innocent.
This smear campaign has done its damage and it seems that no amount of publicity will be able to quell these articles or repair his image. Sadly, it seems that the world of publicity will never be okay with someone who has truly done well for themselves and led a well to do life, such as that of Peyton Manning, without attempting to destroy any and all good or greatness associated with the man now that he has a true claim to fame.