Steve Davis: Peyton Manning Shouldn't Get A Pass
An incident that involved Peyton Manning 20 years ago when he was 20 and at the University of Tennessee is back in the news.
To nutshell the details, it looks like he did a really disgusting thing to a woman and basically got away with it. That's what it looks like. We don't know because it literally is a he said-she said and both sides signed a confidentiality agreement. It appears as though Manning violated the agreement once already, because they settled again back in 2003. My guess is that he got a pass way back when because he was a big-time star and people just settled for the "he's only 20" or "boys will be boys" story, etc.
Some people that want to defend him now argue that it happened 20 years so who cares? I don't think that's a good enough argument to just give him a pass. If he did something awful and ruined her life, then, just because it was 20 years ago, doesn't mean everyone should forget about it. At the same time, if it was an isolated incident, his life shouldn't be ruined either. Lots of people do bad things when they're young or do bad things once. I'm not saying they deserve a pass, but if he has been a model citizen since then and the image he has portrayed is accurate, then that is important to consider as well. It doesn't excuse his mistake, but it may give it some context.
Here's the reality: as much as people want answers and the truth, to take a line from A Few Good Men, they "may not be entitled to it." Manning and the victim, signed confidentiality agreements so they may not be able to talk about it, even if they want to.
