The NFL isn’t turning a blind eye to the December Al Jazeera report linking Peyton Manning and other athletes to performance-enhancing drugs.
A league spokesperson confirmed to NFL Media on Wednesday that it still plans to speak with the players connected to the report at some point next month.
Manning, who retired in February after the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50, was the most prominent player named in the report, which also cited active NFL players Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers, James Harrison and Mike Neal. Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard were named in the report, too.
“We have been working with U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and Major League Baseball since these allegations were raised,” NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart told NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport. “Working with the NFL Players Association, we expect to talk directly to the players sometime next month.”
The Al Jazeera report linking Manning and Co. to PEDs was based on a former unpaid Guyer Institute intern pharmacist, Charlie Sly, allegedly speaking to an undercover reporter working for the network. Sly later recanted his statement.
Al Jazeera America since has shut down its cable TV and digital operations, citing that its business model was “not sustainable in light of the economic challenges in the U.S. media marketplace.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
