The league quietly (and relatively quickly) concluded its investigation into an Al-Jazeera report that alleged human growth hormone was shipped to his home, and the league determined Manning didn’t use HGH or any other PED.
Advertisement
At the time of the report, Manning was the quarterback of the Denver Broncos.
That Al-Jazeera documentary reported that Manning’s wife, Ashley, got shipments of HGH from an Indianaplois anti-aging clinic.
The league said the probe was “initiated” in January and was conducted by NFL security and league legal representatives “with support from expert consultants and other professionals”.
The NFL is continuing its investigation into allegations made against other NFL players in the documentary, which the league said involves “different lines of inquiry and witnesses”.
Alongside Manning, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, Green Bay Packers pass-rushers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, former tight end Dustin Keller and free agent Mike Neal were also named in the report.
The NFL believes Peyton Manning did not use performance-enhancing drugs.
According to a Monday report on Twitter by Chris Bradford of the Beaver County Times, the NFLPA Director of Communications Carl Francis told him, “The NFL can not interview a player without NFLPA counsel present and that no such interview has been scheduled for Mr. Harrison (or any of the other players)”.
“The allegation that I would do something like that is complete garbage and is totally made up”, Manning said in December. However, the league wants to interview the players during training camp. “It’s no news to me”, Manning said at the time.
Advertisement
The NFL Players Association released a statement this morning noting that Manning is no longer a member of the union and therefore isn’t part of the union’s effort to fight the NFL over this investigation. It’s not hard to miss the message here: Peyton Manning fully cooperated with the investigation and was cleared, a contrast to Tom Brady, who didn’t cooperate and was suspended four games for deflated footballs.
