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Gene Frenette: McManus sexual assault lawsuit puts Jaguars, Commanders in awkward spot
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- Gene Frenette: McManus sexual assault lawsuit puts Jaguars, Commanders in awkward spot
McManus lawsuit awkward for Commanders, Jaguars
The lawsuit filed by two flight attendants against former Jaguars' kicker Brandon McManus , accused of sexual assault during the team's flight to London last year, puts his new team, the Washington Commanders , in an untenable public relations position.
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It could get equally uncomfortable for the Jaguars, also named in the suit, if they're found to be negligent in any way for McManus' alleged behavior.
The 10-year kicker signed a one-year deal with Washington in March for $3.6 million, and McManus remains the only kicker on the Commanders' roster.
It'll be interesting to see how Washington — an organization that went through a PR nightmare of widespread sexual harassment (including cheerleaders in a video shoot) and workplace misconduct under previous owner Dan Snyderthat forced him to sell the team — will handle the McManus situation.
The sexual assault lawsuit filed against former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus (10), now with the Washington Commanders, puts the Washington franchise in a tough spot until the legal matter is resolved.
The Commanders are just coming out from under the stench of Snyder's ownership, after the team was purchased last year by private equity investor Josh Harris, who also owns the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils.
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The lawsuit against McManus and the Jaguars, which seeks more than $1 million in damages, could force the Commanders to seek other kicker options as an insurance policy, depending on the timeline of a resolution.
McManus is accused of grinding up against one of the attendants and offering $100 bills to drink and dance with him. Whether the allegations are true or not (McManus' attorney said they were fabricated and an extortion attempt), it's a difficult predicament for the Commanders while this matter remains unresolved.
Due to the team's long history of misogyny and numerous instances of women being mistreated during the Snyder regime, the charges against McManus make it harder for the Commanders to wait out a legal outcome than for any other NFL franchise.
The plaintiffs' attorney is Tony Buzbee, who also represented the 26 women that accused Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct in massage sessions. Most of those cases were settled, though the Cleveland Browns quarterback has served an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL personal conduct policy and could be subject to more discipline.
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Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson called the McManus allegations "disappointing," saying he knew nothing about the alleged circumstances on the plane until the lawsuit story was broken by ESPN.
For now, the only good news for the Jaguars is that McManus now works for somebody else, but they better hope the allegations against their ex-employee turn out to be false. Otherwise, the Jaguars — especially if alcohol was brought onto the plane against NFL policy — could face discipline by the league and be potentially liable to pay damages to the plaintiffs.
It's not as big a distraction for the Jaguars with McManus no longer on the team. As for the Commanders, without knowing how long it might take for this matter to get resolved, signing another kicker is probably a good idea.
AFC South trivia
C.J. Stroud made history last season when the Houston Texans ' first-round draft pick became the 11th rookie quarterback in the modern NFL era to lead his team to a division title and a postseason victory. Who was the last AFC quarterback to do it? Answer at the bottom.
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Wisely hopes to stick with San Francisco Giants
Being caught in baseball's revolving door between Triple-A and the big leagues is nothing new for Sandalwood High product Brett Wisely. The utility infielder has shuffled back and forth from the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats to the MLB San Francisco Giants five times in the last two years.
A pair of Sandalwood High products, San Francisco Giants infielder Brett Wisely and New York Mets pitcher Sean Reid-Foley, before facing each other in last week’s game where Wisely had a game-winning RBI single in the 10th inning of a 7-2 Giants’ victory. ()
Since his latest promotion to the Giants on May 11, the 27-year-old Wisely, playing primarily at shortstop, has put together a five-game stretch where he went 9-for-15 with a home run and six RBI.
During last week's 7-2 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field, Wisely had a run-scoring single in the 10th inning to break a 2-2 tie off another Sandalwood alumnus, Mets' reliever Sean Reid-Foley. That came a few hours after they chatted in pregame and posed for a picture.
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Quick-hitting nuggets
One of Jacksonville 's oldest surviving Negro League legends, Harold "Buster" Hair, celebrated his 92nd birthday on Wednesday. Hair, who attended Old Stanton, was a third baseman/outfielder for the Birmingham Black Barons (1953) and Kansas City Monarchs (1954-58), leading the Negro League with a .423 batting average in his final season. He went on to coach in the Duval County school system, including a stint as Raines' first basketball coach when he mentored players like Ken Burrough, Harold Carmichaeland Leonard "Truck" Robinson. He also coached baseball at Matthew Gilbert Junior High, where one of his players was center fielder Bob Hayes. Hair moved from Jacksonville to the Atlanta area several years ago to be near family. ...
Brian Gillis, the Louisville police officer who confronted and arrested Scottie Schefflerin the early morning of the PGA Championship second round, may never live down sending the world's No. 1-ranked golfer to jail over a chaotic traffic situation near the Valhalla course entrance and poor communication. Gillis was disciplined for not operating his body camera and then embarrassed by a district attorney concluding there was no compelling evidence to prosecute. Scheffler, who opted not to sue Gillis or the Louisville police because he didn't want to fleece taxpayers, should earn plenty of admirers for refusing what might have been an easy payday. ...
Joe DeCamillis, who served two stints as the Jaguars' special-teams coordinator (2007-08, 2017-20) and left the NFL after 32 seasons to be a special assistant at Texas, is on the move again. In February, the 58-year-old Decamillis accepted a promotion to become special teams coordinator at South Carolina under Shane Beamer. He's also been assigned northeast Florida as his recruiting area. ...
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Trivia answer
The last AFC rookie quarterback before Stroud to deliver a division title and a postseason victory was the Houston Texans' T.J. Yates , a fifth-round draft pick who replaced the injured Matt Leinartin Week 12, leading his team to the AFC South title and a 31-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2011 AFC wild-card round.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com : (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: McManus lawsuit puts Jaguars, Commanders in tough situation | Frenette
