Peyton Manning HGH Controversy

[The Raven]

A new report by Al Jazeera is alleging that Peyton Manning illegally used HGH after his neck surgery to aid his recovery. Deadspin has the full report here.

 

Here's another link with more info. Basically, a pharmacist on the team treating Manning said that they would mail HGH to his wife - to avoid linking it to his name - in a variety of different locations.

 

Initially, I was hesitant to believe this, but I learned today that Peyton has hired Ari Fleischer - a former White House Press secretary who now specializes in managing sports crises. If Peyton didn't do it and has nothing to hide, why hire one of the biggest PR gurus in the world? I hate to believe it, because I respected Manning as much as I hated him, but this is pretty damning. 

[Inqui]

[Gordo52]

Doubt it but wouldn't surprise me or upset me. Assume a large % does. Many hearts will break once Watt gets popped.

[Moderator 3]

From USA Today:

Manning, three Green Bay Packers (Mike Neal, Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews) and Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison were all named in the Al Jazeera report, along with Major League Baseball players Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies and Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals.

The NFL and its players agreed to test for HGH in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, though testing procedures were not implemented until 2014.

Charlie Sly, a former employee of the Guyer Institute, an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic, was secretly filmed making the allegations. He later recanted his statements, both to Al Jazeera and later to ESPN.

[The Raven]

From USA Today:

Manning, three Green Bay Packers (Mike Neal, Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews) and Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison were all named in the Al Jazeera report, along with Major League Baseball players Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies and Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals.

The NFL and its players agreed to test for HGH in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, though testing procedures were not implemented until 2014.

Charlie Sly, a former employee of the Guyer Institute, an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic, was secretly filmed making the allegations. He later recanted his statements, both to Al Jazeera and later to ESPN.

 

For some reason, I'm inclined to believe that he recanted his statements because Manning threatened legal action against Al Jazeera. Recanting his statements is a sound legal decision to make here. 

 

Again, if Manning had nothing to hide, why would he hire one of the best PR gurus in the country? This guy was Bush's White House Press Secretary and played a huge role in the post 9/11 era. He specializes in managing sports controversies. There's no need to hire additional PR help if you did nothing wrong. Ari Fleischer is huge. Speaking as a journalist, this is a really bad look for Manning. All he had to do was deny it and move on, but he did more than that.

Edited December 29, 2015 by The Raven

[Inqui]

Doubt it but wouldn't surprise me or upset me. Assume a large % does. Many hearts will break once Watt gets popped.

Sadly I agree with this. I wouldn't be surprised if PED usage is pretty rampant throughout the league and if I'm being perfectly honest I was a little dubious of the Ravens doctor saying "genetics" were the reason Suggs came back like six weeks ahead of schedule back in 2012. And like you say, if Watt gets pinged that'll create a miserable situation for everyone involved.

[JO_75]

Between Spygate and Deflate Gate, a lot of fans respect for Br*dy went out the window and if this HGH thing ends up being true for Manning, he's going to start losing respect in the fans eyes as well. Last offseason was all about whether Br*dy would or would not be suspended and now it seems we may be going through that again this offseason. 

 

I have a feeling for Manning, Matthews, Harrison, and Peppers will be spent fighting a suspension from the league and trying to get it over turned or reduced.

[JO_75]

*Nationwide Song*: Gotta Love The Internet

 

 

[Clmraven]

Between Spygate and Deflate Gate, a lot of fans respect for Br*dy went out the window and if this HGH thing ends up being true for Manning, he's going to start losing respect in the fans eyes as well. Last offseason was all about whether Br*dy would or would not be suspended and now it seems we may be going through that again this offseason.

I have a feeling for Manning, Matthews, Harrison, and Peppers will be spent fighting a suspension from the league and trying to get it over turned or reduced.

Manning would definitely lose some respect if this is true, but I don't think it would bother me much im obviously against blatant cheating (Patriots). but if there is a medicine that doesn't seem to have terrible side effects and can help guys come back from injury faster I don't really care if they use it, so long as they aren't abusing it during the season and when healthy. Edited December 29, 2015 by Clmraven

[ratedr]

Let's be real, HGH use is everywhere in the NFL.

[usmccharles]

Between Spygate and Deflate Gate, a lot of fans respect for Br*dy went out the window and if this HGH thing ends up being true for Manning, he's going to start losing respect in the fans eyes as well. Last offseason was all about whether Br*dy would or would not be suspended and now it seems we may be going through that again this offseason. 

 

I have a feeling for Manning, Matthews, Harrison, and Peppers will be spent fighting a suspension from the league and trying to get it over turned or reduced.

Is there a way the NFL can suspend them even though they never tested positive? i figure something in the CBA would protect them...

[berad]

James Harrison using HGH is about as surprising as Thanksgiving falling on a Thursday.

 

We'll see what the conclusion of all of this is. Without hard evidence (and in absence of failed drug tests), it's tough to prove.

[The Mom Gene]

Let me start off just by saying that I'm not a doctor, and I don't know what procedure Manning had.  Having had a multiple level fusion in my neck (4), and I know that Manning only had 1, I can tell you that I was told by a professor of neurosurgery in California (who did my surgery), that it would be a minimum of 2 years for bone growth to heal.  Now my siutation could be different in that I had fractured C5-6, but still, I couldn't believe that he was ready to play in just one season.  With his age???  it wouldn't surprise me at all. 

 

Sorry guys. I don't believe him.  Too many details about it.  You don't hear these guys coming out with details about the others.  Only the Mannings... too many detailes....  The minutia of the details that Ashley got them through an anti-aging clinic that she actually WAS visiting???  Not buying the innocence. His response was too fast, and too over the top.  Just like Brady, any attorney is going to tell you...  deny, deny, deny...  regardless of it all.   

[GrimCoconut]

I really don't care but cheating is cheating. I'd say the same if it was a Raven. This is the same as the Patriots to me. I wonder how many double standards we'll see if it's true because it's Peyton.

[atomicfront]

From USA Today:

Manning, three Green Bay Packers (Mike Neal, Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews) and Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison were all named in the Al Jazeera report, along with Major League Baseball players Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies and Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals.

The NFL and its players agreed to test for HGH in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, though testing procedures were not implemented until 2014.

Charlie Sly, a former employee of the Guyer Institute, an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic, was secretly filmed making the allegations. He later recanted his statements, both to Al Jazeera and later to ESPN.

 

I don't think recanting is the proper words for what happened.  He sold illegal drugs to a guy and mentioned clients he sold them to.  Taylor Teargarden comes in and does some illegal drugs and talks about beating the tests.  He is filmed secretly and did not think he was talking to a reporter instead he thought he was selling drugs to an athelete who wanted to cheat the system.

 

He finds out it is all a set-up and he is being filmed so of course he denies.  No different than if a heroin dealer was caught on tape selling heroin to someone he would deny doing it if he found out a reporter was filming it.

 

He didn't even say he sold Peyton Manning drugs.  He said he worked at a place where Peyton and his wife would come and do HGH drugs.  As Peyton admits going there and the guy worked there and said that Peyton had drugs shipped to his house in his wife's name and Peyton doesn't deny his wife got sent drugs I am pretty sure Peyton was using HGH/  He could have made up Harriston's name but I doubt that is the case with Peyton. 

[redlobster]

Clay Matthews was a bum at USC, a backup and all the sudden he is a yoked out stud?  Manning recovers from a bad neck injury to play again at a high level so quickly? 

 

Everybody knows that a good portion of the league is juicing, its frustrating when guys do the right thing and work hard but are overshadowed by cheaters, this includes Ravens players as well. 

 

My limited medical knowledge leads me to believe that Suggs and Ray Lewis both were probably taking HGH or some substance to be able to return and play in such short time during the sb season

[rmcjacket23]

For some reason, I'm inclined to believe that he recanted his statements because Manning threatened legal action against Al Jazeera. Recanting his statements is a sound legal decision to make here. 

 

Again, if Manning had nothing to hide, why would he hire one of the best PR gurus in the country? This guy was Bush's White House Press Secretary and played a huge role in the post 9/11 era. He specializes in managing sports controversies. There's no need to hire additional PR help if you did nothing wrong. Ari Fleischer is huge. Speaking as a journalist, this is a really bad look for Manning. All he had to do was deny it and move on, but he did more than that.

Because despite the fact that the person who made these claims admitted to making the whole thing up, people still try to spin the theory as credible. That's why you hire a PR person.

We are in an Era of sports where factual evidence is 100% meaningless... all you have to do is cry wolf and people will believe anything because they are that gullible.

I ultimately wouldn't care if I were him, mostly because the public could care less whether NFL players use PEDs or not.

Heck the majority of the general public thinks the long time face of our franchise used PEDs and is also a murderer. I know we fans don't put much credence into that, so I certainly then can't put credence to a report that was denied by the person who made the claims.

[rmcjacket23]

I don't think recanting is the proper words for what happened.  He sold illegal drugs to a guy and mentioned clients he sold them to.  Taylor Teargarden comes in and does some illegal drugs and talks about beating the tests.  He is filmed secretly and did not think he was talking to a reporter instead he thought he was selling drugs to an athelete who wanted to cheat the system.

 

He finds out it is all a set-up and he is being filmed so of course he denies.  No different than if a heroin dealer was caught on tape selling heroin to someone he would deny doing it if he found out a reporter was filming it.

 

He didn't even say he sold Peyton Manning drugs.  He said he worked at a place where Peyton and his wife would come and do HGH drugs.  As Peyton admits going there and the guy worked there and said that Peyton had drugs shipped to his house in his wife's name and Peyton doesn't deny his wife got sent drugs I am pretty sure Peyton was using HGH/  He could have made up Harriston's name but I doubt that is the case with Peyton.

LOL, yeah makes sense. One of the richest athletes in the world goes to a popular aging clinic to buy HGH and despite having the money and ability to be as discreet as humanly possible about it, he just says "o my wife did it".

LOL you people crack me up...

[atomicfront]

Because despite the fact that the person who made these claims admitted to making the whole thing up, people still try to spin the theory as credible. That's why you hire a PR person.

We are in an Era of sports where factual evidence is 100% meaningless... all you have to do is cry wolf and people will believe anything because they are that gullible.

I ultimately wouldn't care if I were him, mostly because the public could care less whether NFL players use PEDs or not.

Heck the majority of the general public thinks the long time face of our franchise used PEDs and is also a murderer. I know we fans don't put much credence into that, so I certainly then can't put credence to a report that was denied by the person who made the claims.

Did you not read my post? Why would someone denying that they were selling illegal drugs have any meaning to you?  They are of course going to say they made it up.  Just like every drug dealer would in the same situation.  I mean isn't this why Jamal Lewis had to serve time?  He was caught on tape saying he was going to sell drugs to undercover cops.  Denied that he was ever going to sell drugs once he found out they were police. 

[rmcjacket23]

Did you not read my post? Why would someone denying that they were selling illegal drugs have any meaning to you? They are of course going to say they made it up. Just like every drug dealer would in the same situation. I mean isn't this why Jamal Lewis had to serve time? He was caught on tape saying he was going to sell drugs to undercover cops. Denied that he was ever going to sell drugs once he found out they were police.

It's called wanting 15 minutes of fame. When you're trying to go into business with somebody like that, you make up a bunch of professional athletes to make yourself seem important.

Then, once you find out that the public will find out about the athletes you lied about, you back pedal as quickly as possible, because you know it's not true and you know you can't support the claims.

If the claims were valid, there'd be no risk in outing everybody.

Edited January 1, 2016 by rmcjacket23

[theblackdog]

Is it just me or do we have fake charges like this come up every few years?  Someone claims they were sending banned substances to NFL players, then end up taking back their story because it starts to fall apart under scrutiny.  Remember we had our own controversy in 2012 with that guy claiming that he sold HGH via "Deer Antler Spray" to Ray Lewis, then he backed off his story during the SB media week.

 

As much as I dislike Manning, he doesn't strike me as the kind who would cheat like that.

[atomicfront]

Is it just me or do we have fake charges like this come up every few years?  Someone claims they were sending banned substances to NFL players, then end up taking back their story because it starts to fall apart under scrutiny.  Remember we had our own controversy in 2012 with that guy claiming that he sold HGH via "Deer Antler Spray" to Ray Lewis, then he backed off his story during the SB media week.

 

As much as I dislike Manning, he doesn't strike me as the kind who would cheat like that.

 

Actually the story isn't falling apart it is getting stronger.  Really almost every steroid rumor, story, claim has turned out to be true. 

[atomicfront]

It's called wanting 15 minutes of fame. When you're trying to go into business with somebody like that, you make up a bunch of professional athletes to make yourself seem important.

Then, once you find out that the public will find out about the athletes you lied about, you back pedal as quickly as possible, because you know it's not true and you know you can't support the claims.

If the claims were valid, there'd be no risk in outing everybody.

 

He would go to jail.

 

Here you go:

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/sports/baseball/al-jazeera-peyton-manning-derek-jeter-charles-sly.html

[usmccharles]

Is it just me or do we have fake charges like this come up every few years? Someone claims they were sending banned substances to NFL players, then end up taking back their story because it starts to fall apart under scrutiny. Remember we had our own controversy in 2012 with that guy claiming that he sold HGH via "Deer Antler Spray" to Ray Lewis, then he backed off his story during the SB media week.

As much as I dislike Manning, he doesn't strike me as the kind who would cheat like that.

that was good publicity. Try to find out what that guys sales were before and after that cam out, even Santa couldn't get ahold of any antler spray for Rudolph

[rmcjacket23]

He would go to jail.

 

Here you go:

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/06/sports/baseball/al-jazeera-peyton-manning-derek-jeter-charles-sly.html

Not likely. He'd face charges, but wouldn't end up in jail.

He made up a story, admitted to lying about it, and is now being sued by multiple guys he falsely accused.

I'm not sure what else there really is to discuss at this point.

[rmcjacket23]

Actually the story isn't falling apart it is getting stronger.  Really almost every steroid rumor, story, claim has turned out to be true.

Thats because most of them actually began with some sort of factual evidence, which this accusation doesn't have.

A failed drug test, eyewitness accounts from credible sources, etc. Those would be the kinds of things you're looking for.

We have none of those things in this case, and we also have an admission of fabrication...something I don't recall seeing in other cases.

[atomicfront]

Thats because most of them actually began with some sort of factual evidence, which this accusation doesn't have.

A failed drug test, eyewitness accounts from credible sources, etc. Those would be the kinds of things you're looking for.

We have none of those things in this case, and we also have an admission of fabrication...something I don't recall seeing in other cases.

 

That is not true at all.  Canseco started most of the claims about people being on drugs.  A-Rod got suspended a year for something that started like this.  Lance Armstrong had rumors for years. I think there will be suspensions in baseball over this eventually.  In Football nothing will happen as the NFL doesn't care. 

[atomicfront]

Not likely. He'd face charges, but wouldn't end up in jail.

He made up a story, admitted to lying about it, and is now being sued by multiple guys he falsely accused.

I'm not sure what else there really is to discuss at this point.

Lance Armstrong sued and won against a newspaper that claimed he was using PEDs.  

Edited January 6, 2016 by atomicfront

[rmcjacket23]

That is not true at all. Canseco started most of the claims about people being on drugs. A-Rod got suspended a year for something that started like this. Lance Armstrong had rumors for years. I think there will be suspensions in baseball over this eventually. In Football nothing will happen as the NFL doesn't care.

Umm, not quite.

1. Canseco outed people mostly based on watching them use PEDs. That would qualify as eyewitness testimony from credible sources. Plus, some of the people he outed went on to fail tests later, which was validation.

2. ARod got suspended when they actually showed evidence if him using, not based on a written article that was immediately retracted. They had evidence that was provided in a court of law as part of Biogenesis AND, most importantly, he confessed to using PEDs in the past prior to even being suspended. Note that he confessed in 2007 to past steroid use, yet he wasn't suspended by MLB until 2013.

3. Lance Armstrong may have had rumors, but he literally passed hundreds of drug tests before being caught. Agaim, like the others, they actually have EVIDENCE.

Sorry, but your examples hurt your argument more than help it. I can assure you MLB won't touch these guys based on a report that the source acknowledges to fabricating. They don't even suspend players for admitting usage.

Edited January 7, 2016 by rmcjacket23

[rmcjacket23]

Lance Armstrong sued and won against a newspaper that claimed he was using PEDs.

Yes, because the newspaper had no proof. Just because somebody else later was able to provide proof doesn't make the newspaper look better.