As the Butt Cheek turns- Peyton Manning

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Greg Johnson, a former Tennessee linebacker and Manning's old roommate, told Robert Klemko of The MMQB he would not provide an opinion of either Manning or Naughright but said that he was in the training room on the day in question when Manning allegedly mooned cross-country athlete Malcolm Saxon.

“Saxon walks in, and Peyton was the kind of guy who had to be friendly with everyone; he wanted to include everyone, from his teammates to the cross country guy. He says hey to Saxon and pulls down the back of his shorts, and I saw one butt cheek, and then he pulled his pants up. And Jamie said something like, ‘Aw, you're an arse.' Then I left. Thought nothing of it.”

Additionally Johnson said he "saw no physical contact" and Manning got "banned from the chow hall" for the incident.

“It just didn't happen,” Johnson said. “Later someone in the administration asked me what happened. They asked if Peyton mooned somebody. They said you can't do that with a female trainer present. Next thing I know, Peyton is banned from the chow hall. He took his punishment; as 20-year-olds we understood that you can't do that.”

Johnson is currently a law enforcement officer and reached out to Manning when the Daily News story resurfaced the 2003 defamation lawsuit. According to Klemko, he initially wanted to remain anonymous but eventually agreed to include his name.

Johnson says he was never deposed for the 2003 lawsuit because he was on a tour of duty during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

“They didn't really report much about Peyton in the Iraqi Desert Times,” Johnson said, adding he felt it "wasn't a significant moment in my life."

Saxon was reached by Klemko as well, but declined to give an updated version of his account.

“I've said all I can say," Saxon would only say.

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