Following a seven-month investigation, the NFL has determined that Peyton Manning did not use human growth hormones or performance-enhancing drugs of any kind while recovering from neck surgeries when he was a member of the Colts. ESPN's Adam Schefter was the first to report the news.
Here's the NFL's statement:
NFL announces Peyton Manning is cleared in the Al Jazeera/HGH investigation pic.twitter.com/IpzdXTFucH
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) July 25, 2016
The statement reads:
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, it was announced today.The Mannings were fully cooperative with the investigation and provided both interviews and access to all records sought by the investigators. Initiated in January, the investigation was led by the NFL's security and legal teams with support from expert consultants and other professionals. The investigation involved witness interviews, a review of relevant records and other materials, online research, and laboratory analysis and review. Separately, the NFL's investigation continues into the documentary's allegations made against other NFL players, which involve different lines of inquiry and witnesses.
Al Jazeera first linked Manning to HGH in a December, reporting that Manning's wife received the delivery in her name. Manning slammed the report while also defending his wife's medical privacy.
"It's completely fabricated. Complete trash, complete garbage," Manning said the day after the report came out. "There's some more adjectives I'd like to be able to use. It makes me sick."
In January, while preparing for the Super Bowl, Manning reiterated his disgust with Al Jazeera, calling the report "garbage" and welcomed an investigation from the league.
"Just like I said back in December, I do welcome it. It's no news to me," Manning said at the time. "I still stand by what I said then that I welcome it. It's garbage from the first day it came out and it's still garbage today."
According to Schefter, the NFL spoke to both Manning and his wife, and both cooperated fully.
The league also sought and received medical records pertinent to the case and, after reviewing them and the interviews, determined there wasn't any evidence that any violation had occurred, sources said.
Meanwhile, the NFL continues to investigate current players named in the Al Jazeera report, including Steelers linebacker James Harrison and Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers.
"The league is pursuing that," Packers president Mark Murphy said last week. "I know there's been some resistance from the NFLPA about the credibility of some of the sources, but I don't think we know much more than that."
Earlier this month, Harrison said in an affidavit sent to the NFL by the NFL Players Association that he has never violated the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, nor has he met the man who alleged to Al Jazeera that he supplied Harrison with an illegal substance.
Harrison has said previously that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will have to come to his house to interview him, adding that the league must show "credible evidence that warrants an interview."
The league plans to send representatives to both Steelers and Packers training camps to interview Harrison, Matthews and Peppers.