ESPN appeared to purposely cut away from Peyton Manning’s retirement press conference when the former Denver Broncos quarterback was asked about his sexual assault allegations.
A reporter asked about the allegations from a University of Tennessee employee 20 years ago and ESPN almost instantly cut the feed. (RELATED: Did ESPN Purposely Cut Away From A College Football Coach Thanking God? [VIDEO])
WATCH:
Real subtle, @espn pic.twitter.com/CZkSiBKzEw
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) March 7, 2016
Manning also used a quote from the film “Forrest Gump” to joke his way out of the sexual assault question. (RELATED: Breaking: Police Reports Lay Out Peyton Manning Accuser’s Many ‘False Accusations’)
WATCH:
ESPN has been criticized for its handling of the Manning sexual assault allegations and HGH accusations compared to the studio’s rampant coverage of the New England Patriots and Deflategate.
ESPN public editor Jim Brady wrote a lengthy piece about how ESPN’s negligent coverage of the Patriots has resulted in a lack of trust in the network. As Brady points out ESPN and its reporters spread false information surrounding the Patriots including the number of balls allegedly deflated. He also criticized ESPN management for taking so long to correct their mistakes.
Brady criticized ESPN in part by writing:
To those looking for a smoking gun around some kind of ESPN-NFL collaboration in impugning the Patriots, I don’t have it. But that doesn’t mean you’re crazy for wondering whether something was afoot. The sources of Mortensen’s story were inside the NFL, and the league never made any attempt to refute the incorrect reference to 2 PSI in that story. If you believe the thesis of Van Natta and Wickersham’s piece, the NFL wanted to come down hard on the Patriots for Deflategate, and there’s little question that Mortensen’s story made that easier. This is a case where it would behoove ESPN to be as transparent as possible about its Deflategate coverage precisely because of its $1.9 billion-a-year relationship with the NFL.
However, ESPN has gone out of it’s way to not discuss any of the allegations regarding Manning. Clearly those who feel ESPN is protecting the former NFL quarterback certainly will feel vindicated by the actions of ESPN today during Manning’s retirement press conference.