Peyton Manning’s ongoing saga vs. performance-enhancing drug allegations is getting juicier right before Super Bowl Sunday. Manning’s angry, indignant interview that he gave shortly after an Al Jazeera report insinuated he used HGH after his neck surgeries in 2011 seems a bit forced following a report from The Washington Post.
Manning angrily referred to Charlie Sly, the source who gave Al Jazeera Manning’s name along with other professional athletes, as a “slapstick” and called the report a “freaking joke.” But his shock was feigned; before the report was ever released, Manning reportedly had hired investigators pay Sly a visit.
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Five days before the bomb dropped, Sly’s parents placed a call to 911. “Both men wore black overcoats and jeans and, according to a 911 call from the house that evening, one initially said he was a law enforcement officer but didn’t have a badge,” the Washington Post reported.
Since the story broke, Sly has recanted his story entirely. His lawyers have said it was fabricated in an attempt to impress the Al Jazeera reporter, whom he thought might be a potential business partner. He has also been sued by MLB players Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman, both of whom Sly allegedly helped receive PEDs.
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“It was pure puffery,” Sly’s attorney Travis Cohron said. “He was manufacturing a story to bolster his own appearance.”
Manning’s crisis manager Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary, told The Washington Post that Manning’s decision to hire investigators was normal.
“When somebody accuses you of doing something you didn’t do — and Al Jazeera refused to tell us who it was — it’s only logical to say, ‘Who is it, and why are they doing this?’ ” Fleischer said. “That’s human nature.”
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