Manning confused how 'fabricated' story became news

Omnisports

December 27, 2015 5:57 AM

Peyton Manning wants an explanation as to how apparently fabricated claims he used human growth hormome (HGH) to recover from neck surgery became news.

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Peyton Manning is keen to hear an explanation as to how apparently fabricated claims he used human growth hormone (HGH) to recover from neck surgery became news.

A documentary by Al Jazeera alleged Denver Broncos quarterback Manning and other professional athletes received the performance-enhancing drug Delta-2 from Charlie Sly, a pharmacist based in Austin, Texas, who was claimed to have worked at the Indiana-based Guyer Institute in 2011.

Sly told Al Jazeera he shipped the drug to Manning under his wife's name, however, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported on Sunday that Sly had recanted his statements.

Mortensen said Sly informed him he is not a pharmacist and was not at the Guyer Institute in 2011.

According to state licensing records, Sly was a licensed pharmacy intern in Indiana from April 2010 to May 1 2013, when his license expired.

And in an interview with ESPN, Manning said: "I'd love to understand why this guy is saying this, why he's making it up, that he admits he makes it up, yet it still becomes a story.

"I'd like to be told and explained that.

"I have my treatments that I do. She [wife Ashley] may have hers, and that's her business. There's no connection between the two.

"What hurts me the most about this is that whoever this guy is, this slapstick, trying to insinuate that in 2011 when I more or less had a broken neck... I busted my butt to get healthy.

"I saw a lot of doctors. It stings me that whoever this guy is insinuated that I cut corners and broke NFL rules in order to get healthy.

"Disgusted is really how I feel. I'm not sure I understand how somebody can make something up about somebody, admit that he made it up, and yet it somehow gets published in a story.

"It's completely fabricated, complete trash. There's more adjectives I'd like to be able to use. It makes me sick that it brings Ashley into it; her medical privacy."

Baseball stars Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies and Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals were also implicated in the report.

A statement from the duo's attorney read: "It's inexcusable and irresponsible that Al Jazeera would provide a platform and broadcast outright lies about Mr Howard and Mr Zimmerman.

"The extraordinarily reckless claims made against our clients in this report are completely false and rely on a source who has already recanted his claims.

"We will go to court to hold Al Jazeera and other responsible parties accountable for smearing our clients' good names."

Omnisports

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