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Peyton Manning Most Trusted Athlete, Tiger and LeBron Most Unpopular
August 18, 2011
In a recent poll, Peyton Manning was the only athlete to crack the list of the top 25 most trusted personalities, ranking in at No. 14.
Apparently America trusts the signal caller more than its first lady, as Michelle Obama came in at No. 15 on the list. It also doesn't trust its journalists as much as the four-time MVP either, as Anderson Cooper and Barbara Walters were ranked lower than Manning as well.
He was also the only athlete to make the top 25 most popular personalities list at No. 23.
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods and LeBron James found their names on another type of list: the top 10 most unpopular personalities, entering in at No. 6 and No. 10, respectively.
So, what does this say about America and its relationship with its most prized athletes?
America likes its Golden Boy. They like him a lot.
In an age in which stars in the spotlight are becoming more and more vilified on Twitter, Facebook and even sites like Bleacher Report, Manning has managed to stay clean.
Have you ever heard any knocks against Manning's personality? Sure, you can call him soft, say that sometimes he fades down the stretch or that he may be the only starting quarterback who throws a perfect spiral on less than half of his passes, but you never hear people knock his behavior. They never knock him as a person.
In today's world, there's something to be said for that.
In a time in which we turn on ESPN and hear about Nevin Shapiro, Terrelle Pryor and the steroid era of baseball, it's nice to have at least one player who is drama-free off the field.
We trust Peyton even more than some of our top journalists who report on these events. Well honestly, that's just rather depressing and quite a sad commentary on modern journalism, but that's a whole different column for a different website.
It really shouldn't come as much of a surprise that he's rated higher than Michelle Obama. Have you turned on the news lately? Politicians (yes, I know Michelle herself is not a politician, but she's strongly linked to a rather important one) do not have the best reputation in the country right now.
If there was any doubt that Manning was the face of the NFL, there shouldn't be now. In fact, he's not just the face of the NFL, he's the face of American sports—the face that Americans know, trust and love. Looks like all those commercials have officially moved him into the hearts of Americans.
Looks like Peyton now has some new bragging rights over Tom Brady. But hey, it could be worse for Brady. He could be Tiger or LeBron.