A supposed witness tried to unravel what happened in the 1996 incident in the Tennessee locker room, but he seems to have created an even bigger fog over the sexual harassment charge against Peyton Manning.
On Wednesday, former Volunteer Greg Johnson told The MMQB he was an eyewitness, painting Manning as an immature mooner but stopping there. In an ESPN report, though, another teammate on that year’s Tennessee squad disputed the account, saying Johnson was not present at the incident that led to Dr. Jamie Naughright suing the legendary quarterback.
Johnson had contended Manning dropped his pants and revealed his butt to the trainer, but did not make contact with her — which Naughright, in 2002, alleged he did, saying he placed his butt and testicles directly on her face. Kevin Horne, also on that team, does not know how Johnson could have witnessed this.
“I never saw him,” Horne, who had never spoken publicly concerning the allegations prior, told Outside The Lines. “I saw that story and I’m like, ‘Greg Johnson?’ I like Greg, but, sorry, I don’t remember that.”
Horne spoke to investigators after Naughright brought Manning to court in 1996, saying he was facing a different direction and did not see what happened, though allowing that Naughright did not seem upset afterward.
Reconstructing the scene of a 20-year-old event has been troublesome after the story has been given a renewed spotlight, and Johnson shrugged off Horne’s bewilderment, chalking it up to time obscuring the memory.
“That’s natural,” Johnson said about Horne being skeptical about his recollections. “And all I can do is say, ‘Hey, I was there, this is what I saw,’ and go on.
“And I’m not saying that what they remember is wrong or anything, I’m just telling you what I remember.”
What Johnson remembers supports Naughright’s and Manning’s 1996 testimony — that no contact was made. When the trainer alleged six years later that the mooning had gone further, Johnson, then in the Marine Corps, was out of the country. In his account, he said he didn’t know that there was still interest and controversy two decades later.
In 1996 depositions, Johnson is never mentioned. Manning and Naughright agreed Horne was present, as was another athlete, Malcolm Saxon — who, after an implication-heavy 2002 letter to Manning, has not elucidated further. Still, Johnson maintains he saw the events that have put a pall over the future Hall of Fame quarterback after his second Super Bowl ring, and possibly final game.
“I was there, and I absolutely saw what happened,” Johnson told ESPN. “And if those other guys can remember who was in there and who wasn’t 20 years ago, they’ve got better memories than I do.”
