I just watched all 49 minutes of the Al Jazeera report (another sentence I thought I would never type). You can see it here:
http://www.aljazeera.com/inves...
Manning stuff is at the 41 minute mark.
I highly recommend you watch it all. It is clear they spent a lot of time and money chasing this story. They make a very compelling argument all through hidden camera stuff. The hidden camera stuff was all edited so without seeing the countless hours of raw footage there is always going to be some doubt about context. Within the report there were several main players the central one being this Charlie Sly who has since recanted everything. He now claims he knew it was sting and he was lying to see if Collins (the undercover Brit) was really serious. The amount of drugs Sly gets Collins on tape and which Al Jazeera has documented and kept as evidence shoots that explanation out of the water.
So where are we. There is an explosive report about PEDs now linking Mike Neal, Ryan Howard, Julius Peppers and Peyton Manning out there. There is also a report that Clay Mathews used illegal methods to get narcotic pain killers so he could play through injury. Further Sly says so the report alleges that Matthews took HGH when he was younger.
The Manning stuff is fascinating. The report had this Endocrinologist on at the end who explained there are only 3 legal reasons for HGH to be prescribed... One had to do with AIDS, one with bowel issues and the last with actual growth issues usually in adolescents. There should not be any medical reason Ashley Manning was being prescribed HGH. At least not a legal one. So if Peyton stands behind that story, that his wife received the medicine she stands to be the fall guy for him. For the record Al Jazeera confirmed that Sly worked at the Guyer institute in 2011 when Manning was a patient there and when Manning was still in Indy. Sly now saying he worked there in 2013 is a lie. So the cover up has started. It should not be that difficult to find out if Fedex or UPS were delivering packages from Guyer to Ashley Manning in that time...some enterprising reporter will find that out. So that is why Manning hired Ari Fleischer he knows whats coming. He can't just deny. My guess is ESPN will circle the wagons and defend him, deflecting the story. Ditto the NFL network. The question is will publications like the WSJ or the NYT let this go or will they chase. Further will Al Jazeera which has no real credibility continue to chase this to make a name for itself. If I were them I would. They don't really have anything to loose. The initial report looks to have been well done and buttoned down.
The NFL cannot be happy. They look like incompetent fools for allowing this to happen under their watch. They blame the players association for restrictions of testing. In the end Goodell will look toothless yet again as he will do nothing. If as alleged 20% of players or more are doing something illegal...not against the NFL's rules but actually illegal...and they are not doing something about it they are an accessory.
