Peyton Manning Drops A Forrest Gump Quote When Asked About The Sexual Assault Allegations At His Retirement Presser

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – there is nothing greater than when you achieve that “free pass” status as an athlete. Whether it’s because you’re kind of an idiot like Manny and Gronk or because you’re a hokey likable white dude like Peyton Manning. When you reach that level you’re genuinely bulletproof. And there’s few better examples of that free pass than Peyton Manning dropping a Forrest Gump quote when asked about the time he put his grundle on a chick’s face and the entire room breaks into laughter and just moves on.

I mean think about the time and the setting. Its 2016. In the Era of Outrage. When people are crucified publicly for all sorts of indiscretions, big or small. Right or wrong. Where simply an accusation or an “allegedly” can absolutely bury you. And Peyton can some how just crack a smile with his goofy teeth, crack a gee-golly joke with the help of Forrest Gump, and the whole room just chuckles about it. No follow up questions pressing him about the matter. No second angle about the incident. Just a “Welp Peyton said its a joyous day and happened a long time ago and then hit us with a little Tom Hanks so lets just move on!” He could have dropped a “I’m not talking about that…and thats the bottom line, because Stone Cold Said so!” and they woulda ate it up.

Thats absolutely remarkable. Its what separates athletes from brands. Its what allows you to become an advertising icon and a marketing machine off the field. And I dont think theres really any rhyme or reason why it happens to some guys and not to others. It takes a lot of charm, charisma, and relatability, but it also takes the media and the general public just collectively deciding that they like you enough to look the other way on everything.

I dont even care where you fall on the sexual assault incident. You can be an unrealistic hardo like Clay Travis and his minions who think that it wasnt a big deal or that it never even happened at all. You can be a crazy maniac social justice warrior who condemned Peyton after only hearing one side of the story with limited facts. I dont even care about that. Its more just about how Peyton has pulled off one of the greatest careers strictly from a public relations standpoint. Right down the the very end with the media chuckling about Forrest Gump.

PS – Thats not even that good of a Forrest Gump quote.