DENVER — Before I write anything else, it should be noted that what I write doesn’t matter. Your NFL allegiances have already determined if you believe Al Jazeera’s allegations that Peyton Manning used human growth hormone.

If you’re a Manning guy/gal, you think “Al Jazeera” is Brian Williams’ pen name.

If you’re a Brady guy/gal, you think Manning is clearly and obviously guilty, should be burned at the stake, and, oh yeah, Roger Goodell hates the Patriots.

Nothing that’s said, written, proven or debunked will influence how you feel about the Al Jazeera report on Peyton Manning. So let’s start there.

It’s not that I don’t believe Peyton Manning would ever use human growth hormone. I believe that when it comes to professional athletes and performance-enhancing drugs, the reward usually outweighs the risks, so it’s dangerous to rule out anyone as a candidate. And by anyone, I mean anyone. The question on PED use shouldn’t be “why?” but “why not?” When he failed drug tests and got nailed for it, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Ryan Braun reportedly lost about $3.8 million. But the bulk of a $100 million contract extension still found his wallet.

If morals aren’t your thing, not a bad trade-off, right?

So instead of going to church Sunday morning, I watched the entire Al Jazeera report – titled “The Dark Side” – and now I wished I had gone to church.

“Sick. Disgusting. Makes me want to … I can’t say it on TV,” Manning said on TV, in an interview with ESPN reporter Lisa Salters.

Al Jazeera reported that the Mannings received HGH shipments in 2011 when Peyton was still with the Colts. The news agency’s source was a fellow named Charlie Sly, who, and this should be underlined and bolded, since has said he made it up.

Sly later told ESPN that he – get this – wasn’t yet employed by the place he alleged supplied the Mannings with HGH. Didn’t work there! ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported he spoke to Sly, who admitted to “fabricating a story,” in Mortensen’s words, as part of a moneymaking scheme.

See, wish I had gone to church. Manning, it sounded like, wishes he had T.J. Ward, Ryan Clady and 10 minutes in a back alley with Sly and the Al Jazeera news team.

“It’s completely fabricated, trash, garbage,” Manning told Salters during a break in his Sunday morning workout at the UCHealth Training Center. “There’s more adjectives I’d like to be able to use.”

Back to the Al Jazeera report, which is 49 minutes, 12 seconds long. The Manning allegations surface at 40:56. For future reference, if I get a guy saying one of the top five quarterbacks in NFL history had PEDs shipped to him under his wife’s name, I’m not burying that info until 40 minutes in. But that’s just me, and to each his own.

Manning was heated on ESPN, as mad as I’ve seen him over the past four seasons, more mad than when he lit up the scoreboard operator at Mile High. And when his wife was pulled into the equation? Ears, meet steam.

“It makes me sick that Ashley was brought into it, her medical history, her privacy being violated,” Manning told ESPN.

“That makes me sick. I don’t understand that.”

He added, “I know how hard I’ve worked in the NFL. There are no shortcuts in the NFL. I’ve done it the long way, the hard way. To insinuate otherwise is a complete and total joke. It’s defamation. It ticks me off.”

It’s not that I don’t believe Manning would ever use HGH or PEDs or THC or other substances banned by the NFL. Sports history suggests naivety is its own drug.

But the Al Jazeera allegations, from a guy who didn’t work at the Guyer Institute at the time, who has since taken it back? Wish I’d gone to church.

The Broncos host the Bengals on Monday night, a game that could decide if the Broncos even make the playoffs. The Chiefs and Jets won Sunday, meaning the Broncos must win one of their final two games to qualify for the postseason.

Manning was inactive for the sixth straight week. That leads us to perhaps the most enlightening segment of his ESPN interview, in which the quarterback said Sunday’s was his fourth workout of the week, and he is moving toward a return.

So thanks for reading this – since your opinion on the matter is already made up, whether the matter is Washington politics (especially politics), Peyton Manning, PEDs or the Al Jazeera source, Charlie Sly.

“Slapstick,” Manning called him.

Wish I’d gone to church.

Copy the Story Link