We haven't even had closure on the original Deflategate incident involving Tom Brady, and now we may be headed for another bizarre offseason NFL story involving one of Brady's rivals.
The report that an anti-aging clinic in Indianapolis supplied Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning with human growth hormone in 2011 when he took the year off to recover from offseason neck surgery could be rushed to the top of the NFL investigation list, Bleacher Report's Jason Cole is reporting.
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"In talking to an NFL source on Sunday, the NFL is in a problematic situation when it comes to Peyton Manning and this investigation of possible PED use by Manning and other NFL players, according to Al Jazeera network," Cole said. "The reason that the NFL is in such a problematic position is, based on the Tom Brady investigation of last offseason and the penalties that were levied against Tom Brady, the NFL equated those penalties in Deflategate with PED use."
So in an accusation of PED use itself, Cole said, the NFL can't ignore it and must pursue it as aggressively as it did Deflategate or be subject to backlash from the league for inconsistent discipline.
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The NFL, however, could be forgiven for waiting for the story itself to continue to develop over the "he said, she said" antics of the parties involved in the story.
The source of the information on Manning, Charlie Sly, has recanted his story claiming that he was "part of a medical team that helped [Manning] recover" from the neck surgery in 2011, according to Larry Brown Sports. Questions about when Sly worked at the Guyer Institute, the Indiana-based anti-aging clinic, still are in dispute. The institute claims he interned in 2013.
Al Jazeera reporter Deborah Davies stands by her story, and Huffington Post included a transcript Al Jazeera provided between Davies and a woman at the institute, in which she confirms his employment in 2011.
Davies said she believes what Sly originally said in the undercover expose in which he didn't know he was being recorded was true, according to a tweet from ESPN's Darren Rovell.
New comments from Al-Jazeera investigative reporter Deborah Davies on Manning source Charlie Sly recanting story pic.twitter.com/A9is7i3VJ5
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 28, 2015
Once the facts of the stories are set, then the NFL will have to decide how to proceed with Manning while they try to persuade an appeals court that Brady's four-game suspension should be upheld.
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