Peyton Manning didn’t do anything wrong … at least according to the NFL.
The league quietly (and relatively quickly) concluded its investigation into an Al-Jazeera report that alleged human growth hormone was shipped to the now-retired quarterback’s home, and the league determined Manning didn’t use HGH or any other PED.
“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,” the NFL said Monday in a statement.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the news.
According to the initial report, Manning was among a handful of professional athletes who received HGH from the Guyer Institute in Indianapolis in 2011. That just happened to come at the time Manning was recovering from neck surgery. The company mailed the shipments to Manning’s home, but the packages were addressed to the quarterback’s wife, Ashley.
“The treatment he received at the Guyer Institute was provided on the advice of his physician and with the knowledge of team doctors and trainers,” Manning’s agent said in a statement at the time, via The Huffington Post. “Any medical treatment received by Ashley is a private matter of hers, her doctor, and her family.”
The league acknowledged in its statement that the Mannings fully cooperated with the investigation, which included “witness interviews, a review of relevant records and other materials, online research, and laboratory analysis and review.”
The NFL’s investigation of Manning is over, but it continues for James Harrison, Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, all of whom will be interviewed at training camp after the league rejected written affidavits from those players, Schefter reported July 22.
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
