NFL will not suspend K Brandon McManus

The league’s investigation did not find enough evidence to suspend the 10-year veteran under the personal conduct policy, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Being cleared by the league will help McManus’ effort to resume his career. He has not been tied to a team since the Washington release in June.

The anonymous plaintiffs allege that McManus rubbed himself against them and grinded against them during the Jaguars’ flight to London on September 28, 2023. Both women worked as flight attendants at the time, but they have since been removed from the crew which handles the team’s flights. McManus denied the allegations, but the Commanders cut bait shortly after they surfaced. McManus, who kicked for the Broncos for nine seasons before signing with the Jaguars in 2023, had signed with the Commanders in March.

A Duval County judge had dismissed the women’s lawsuit due to neither revealing their identities, but the alleged victims have since done so in an amended complaint, according to the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala.

McManus’ attorney has labeled the lawsuit a shakedown.

“Since the inception of this case, we have maintained that this is a classic shakedown premised on fictitious claims brought by serial extortionists with questionable credibility and counsel that prefers litigating his cases in the media rather than a courtroom,” McManus’s attorney, Brett Gallaway, said in a statement. “Nothing about this re-filing changes our position that this is a pure smear campaign. Brandon does not know these two women and vehemently denies ever engaging in the alleged conduct. Now that the names of the plaintiffs are public, we look forward to what we anticipate will be dispositive discovery and deposition testimony ultimately resulting in Brandon’s full exoneration.”

This civil filing also accuses the Jaguars of arranging the flight to feature a section for players who wished to drink alcohol, alleging the flight “quickly turned into a party.” NFL rules prohibit alcohol from being served on team flights to and from games.