NFL clears Peyton Manning in PED investigation

While things have gotten interesting between the other players mentioned in January’s Al Jazeera America documentary and the NFL, there is no such drama between the league and Peyton Manning.

The NFL announced on Monday morning that after a seven-month investigation, Manning had been cleared.

 

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From the media release:

Following a comprehensive seven-month investigation into allegations made in a documentary by Al-Jazeera America, the NFL found no credible evidence that Peyton Manning was provided with or used HGH or other substances prohibited by the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, it was announced today.

The Mannings were fully cooperative with the investigation and provided both interviews and access to all records sought by the investigators.

Initiated in January, the investigation was led by the NFL’s security and legal teams with support from expert consultants and other professionals. The investigation involved witness interviews, a review of relevant records and other materials, online research, and laboratory analysis and review.

Separately, the NFL’s investigation continues into the documentary’s allegations made against other NFL players, which involve different lines of inquiry and witnesses.

An Al Jazeera undercover athlete/reporter filmed a man named Charlie Sly, a pharmacist who alleged, among other things, that Manning took human-growth hormone that was sent to his wife, Ashley. But according to the league, there is no credible evidence that Manning, who retired earlier this year after quarterbacking the Denver Broncos to a win in Super Bowl 50, took any banned substances.

The NFL Players’ Association sent out a statement shortly after news came of Manning’s exoneration; since he’s retired, Manning is no longer part of the union. But the statement implies that while the path Manning took is fine for Manning, it’s not fine for active NFL players:

As a former player, Peyton Manning is free to do whatever he believes is in his best interest. The Union knows that he understands the rights of players under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and would never do anything to hurt or undermine active players in support of those rights.

There’s also, if you notice, some high-level shade being thrown by the NFL in the league’s media release, noting more than once that Manning was “fully cooperative,” a likely reference back to Tom Brady and deflate-gate and the league’s stance that Brady did not cooperate.



The NFL rejected written affidavits from the other players mentioned in the documentary, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ James Harrison and the Green Bay Packers’ Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers. The league is expected to interview them in the coming days at their respective training camps; free agent Mike Neal was also interviewed.