Maybe “I’m not a smart man” would’ve been the more applicable borrowed quote.
As Peyton Manning announced his retirement on Monday, he was asked about the sexual assault allegations from his days at Tennessee that have been given a new light.
The legend and two-time Super Bowl champ said the allegations from a former trainer at the university are untrue, then halted future queries by quoting Tom Hanks in “Forrest Gump.”
“Like Forrest Gump said, that’s all I have to say about that,” he said, trying to suppress a smirk as laughter broke out from the assembled media and crowded room.
The 1996 incident, in which Jaime Naughright, a trainer then with the university, first said Manning mooned her before she alleged his genitals made contact with her face, has been brought to the fore and cast a pall over the end of his storied career.
“I think it is sad that some people don’t understand the truth and the facts,” Manning said before channeling Forrest. “I did not do what has been alleged and I am not interested in re-litigating something that happened when I was 19 years old. This is a joyous day, a special day.“
It was not a picture-perfect day, though — literally. ESPN’s feed of the news conference cut out in the middle of his controversial answer.
While he had denied Naughright’s story when he was first accused, in a later defamation suit and in a book, Manning hadn’t spoken about the allegations since the disputed account had gained renewed interest.