So Apparently HGH is OK to Take Now?

A few weeks ago, Peyton Manning got accused of taking HGH that was shipped to his address, but was (allegedly) intended for his wife. The story was quickly phased out before the major media even gave it the time of day to breathe.

Al Jazeera initially broke a story stating that there were multiple big-named athletes who were in this “doping ring” and were being given steroids from pharmacists, most of which was obtained from Charlie Sly, who was caught on undercover cameras speaking about who he’s dealt with.

The ethics behind undercover recording is a completely different story, but a British hurdler, Liam Collins, was seeking out “help” to get back to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this year and needed an extra boost. He then shot footage of Sly meeting up with him and Manning’s name was mentioned.

Mr. Sly was working at an anti-aging clinic in Indianapolis in 2011 when (you guessed it) Manning missed the season due to neck surgery and Sly himself was supposedly on a team of doctors that helped him recover. The Human Growth Hormones were officially shipped to Peyton’s wife, Ashley, at their home in Florida and was never actually addressed to Peyton.

Jazeera also mentioned Green Bay Packers Mike Neal and Clay Matthews as well as Julius Peppers of the Bears and James Harrison of the Steelers in the report for pain killers. MLB players Ryan Howard of the Phillies and Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals were also mentioned having taken steroids.

The latter three, Harrison Howard and Zimmerman, have all publicly denied the reports while the Packers’ linebackers and Peppers never even responded.
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Long story short, the evidence is all there and all of my information was taken from this article from the Huffington Post the day after Christmas. 

Photo: 9News Colorado

After all the legal talk in the report, Manning quickly denied and said that he was hurt by the accusations and couldn’t believe that somebody would attack him like this. After a couple weeks, the story fizzled out mainly because it was a “nonstory” according to many sports news outlets.

Now the thing about this case that stands out is exactly that. The media decided that it wasn’t a big deal and bought his side of the story from the get-go as opposed to not believing a word like they did to Tommy.
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It probably didn’t help that he’s buddy-buddy with a lot of the ESPN reporters as well as CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz, who splits Papa Johns’ pizza with Manning. 

Photo: Papajohns.com

I’m not here to say that Manning did or did not take the HGH, but the way the media handled it was a complete 180 degree difference compared to when Tom was accused of being “generally aware” that the footballs he beat the Indianapolis Colts 1000-0 with were underinflated.

I get it, the situations are a little different, but the severity was unknown at the beginning of both scenarios and the witch hunt was never even close to being called on Manning. Mark Brunell was crying because he was so betrayed by Brady and nobody was close to that reaction when Manning had HGH shipped to his home.

Manning was reacting like Brunel when he was accused and everyone ate it up like the Last Supper. Nobody even questioned whether or not he did it. They believed him right off the bat and didn’t even look twice at it.

Sure, Manning wasn’t taking HGH in order to gain a competitive advantage on his opponents, he was most likely (if even at all) taking it in order to return from his injury earlier than scheduled because he’s so old at this point and his body can’t recover the same way anymore.

Photo: @NFLMemez on Twitter

​In any event, it is way more than a “nonstory” and Manning got nowhere near the same attention as Brady, further proving the point that the rest of the nation hates success a.k.a. Vince Lombardi trophies. 

Photo: @NFL_Memes on Twitter

By Cole McNanna
​@CMac217