Whether he’s winning Super Bowls, hosting awards shows, or pushing pizza, chances are Peyton Manning’s doing it in some sort of aw shucks, non-offensive manner. This guy has made bank by being bland, and yet even one of the most market-tested athletes of our time can have a skeleton in the ole’ closet.

Back in 1996, while Manning was still a student at the University of Tennessee, he apparently asked out a female personal trainer, Jamie Ann Naughright, and was quickly rebuffed. Unhappy with her answer, he proceeded to drop trou, shoving his nether bits into the woman’s face. But here’s the thing, Manning was the school’s star QB at the time, so his punishment was mild, losing dining hall privileges and being forced to do some early morning runs. Naughright, unsurprisingly, wasn’t satisfied with Manning’s dinner dilemma as punishment, and sued the school for $300,000.

All seemed settled until Manning wrote about the incident in his book, Manning: A Father, His Sons, and a Football Legacy, calling Naughright a “vulgar woman.” Thus, another lawsuit, and another settlement, which put a gag order on all parties involved.

That is, until Manning again brought up the incident in an interview with ESPN Classic Sports Century: Peyton Manning, forcing Naughright to go back to court one last time. Being a champion is one thing; knowing when to keep your mouth shut is another.

For some brands, the type of publicity that Kellen Winslow Jr. brought them back in 2014 would be worth millions, but for the NFL journeyman, it nearly cost him time behind bars.

It all began with Winslow’s arrest for possession of synthetic marijuana in a Target parking lot. Probably not the high point of the Pro Bowler’s life, but certainly not a career killer. That is, until NJ.com’s Dom Cosentino started digging around and found out that smoking counterfeit kush was just the tip of the icky iceberg.

Apparently, Winslow’s arrest came after a bystander noticed the tight end enjoying his Cadillac Escalade for more than the leather seats. That’s right, according to the police report he could have been flagged for holding his own miniature football player. By the time the police showed up, Winslow Jr.’s Junior was put away, and he was insistent there had been no public polishing of the helmet.

Instead, he said he was just looking for a Boston Market, which is a funny thing to call it. While the officer never witnessed Winslow in the act, the two open containers of Vaseline didn’t exactly scream a craving for rotisserie chicken.

In the end, he was only charged with possession, but that doesn’t mean all was forgiven. The locker room never forgets. Just ask his former teammate, Antonio Cromartie, who needled him via Twitter in 2015, asking if he’d been to Target lately.

Jim Brown is celebrated for many things — his legendary career on the gridiron, his film stardom, and perhaps most importantly, his activism. He’s been at the nexus of sports and politics for decades, helping pave the way for stars like LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick. He’s also been charged with beating or raping women six times, including assault with intent to commit murder. As he told Inside Sports in 1981 after beating up a couple police officers who once responded to a call, “You got to have something, goin’ out dealing with 270-pound lineman for a living. You quit playing, but that doesn’t just go away.”

Over five decades, he’s been accused of beating a girlfriend nearly unconscious, beating and then throwing two women down a flight of stairs, and forcing himself on a woman in his home. His wife accused him of threatening to murder her, and he even served nearly four months in jail for refusing to attend domestic violence counseling.

In his memoir, Out of Bounds, the former football star denied a number of the accusations, but did say he had slapped women. “And I never should have,” he wrote, “I don’t think any man should slap a woman. … I don’t start fights, but sometimes I don’t walk away from them. It hasn’t happened in a long time, but it’s happened, and I regret those times. I should have been more in control of myself, stronger, more adult.”

Jameis Winston is one of the NFL’s more promising young quarterbacks, helping to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back to relevance. Unfortunately, his story is a lot more complicated than his Sunday celebrations would have you believe. 

Winston’s issues began during his time at Florida State University, when he racked up a laundry list of infractions, from stealing $32 worth of crab legs from a Tallahassee Publix to stealing soda from a Burger King. He was also suspended one game for yelling vulgarities in the middle of a campus dining hall. And, sure, these mistakes may all seem within the bounds of a typical college kid acting out, but what happened in December 2012 surely wasn’t.

According to Erica Kinsman, a fellow student, Winston raped her and then worked with the school and local police to obstruct the case. The two would eventually reach a settlement, but Winston would win a Heisman Trophy and become the face of an NFL franchise. If a recent accusation of groping an Uber driver is any indication, Winston still has a long way to go to clear his name.

When people think of troubled NFL players, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott often comes to mind. But few remember that his teammate and staunch defender Dez Bryant has also had a run-in with the law.

Back in 2012, Bryant was arrested for attacking his mother during an argument, hitting her face with his baseball cap and tearing her shirt after she tried to break up a fight between the wide receiver and his brother. In a police interview, Bryant’s mother said he “started talking about how he’s going to knock me out.”

While Bryant’s arrest could have resulted in a fine of up to $4,000 or a year in jail, he cut a deal with prosecutors, promising to stay out of trouble for the next 12 months. Bryant has gone on to become a three time Pro-Bowler and does seem to have stayed out of trouble. In 2013, he even spoke at a “Men Against Abuse” rally in Dallas, declaring, “I’m done with domestic abuse.”