Report: Peyton Manning's wife WAS repeatedly sent human growth hormone, claims second 'absol
By OLLIE GILLMAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
A second 'impeccably placed' source said human growth hormone was repeatedly mailed to Peyton Manning's wife, a reporter has claimed.
Al Jazeera journalist Deborah Davies, who worked on last week's documentary which claimed Manning was linked to banned performance-enhancing drugs, said an anonymous source backed up allegations made by pharmacist Charlie Sly.
Sly was covertly filmed saying Ashley Manning was sent human growth hormone (HGH) but retracted his words after discovering he had been recorded.
Manning, who on Sunday night returned to the football field for the first time following the allegations, has denied the claims and called them 'a freaking joke'.
Al Jazeera journalist Deborah Davies said a second, anonymous source backed up allegations suggesting Ashley Manning was sent HGH Davies told CNN: 'We had a second source. Absolutely impeccably placed, knowledgeable and credible who confirmed exactly what Charlie Sly said.
'Shipments of HGH were repeatedly sent to Ashley Manning in Florida and other places in the US
'This is a source we cannot name, we could not name. The value of that source was to add to the level of confidence we already had in what Charlie Sly was saying.'
In the investigation by Al Jazeera, Sly claimed the Denver Broncos quarterback received HGH through his wife during his recovery from neck surgeries in 2011.
The quarterback had the Guyer Institute ship the substance out to his wife, Ashley, so he was not directly linked to the scheme, according to the claims made by Sly.
Sly, who used to work at the clinic in Indianapolis, boasted about the center supplying the five-time league MVP with the hormone.
'All the time we would be sending Ashley Manning drugs,' Sly boasts. 'Like growth hormone, all the time, everywhere, Florida. And it would never be under Peyton's name, it would always be under her name.
'Him and his wife would come in after hours and get IVs and s***'.
HGH, along with other performance-enhancing drugs, is banned by the NFL and no one has tested positive for it since it was outlawed in 2011. The league has only been routinely testing players for it since 2014.
The hormone - which can be used to increase muscle and improve athletic performance - is produced naturally in the human body, but this production slows down with age. Some people inject it, along with steroids, to increase athletic performance.
Mrs Manning could have been taking HGH for its supposed anti-ageing properties, but this is not known.
Manning returned from a foot injury on Sunday night, coming on in the third quarter of the Broncos' game against the San Diego Chargers and helping his team to an NFL play-off spot.
Last week he furiously denied the allegations in a seven-minute long rant on ESPN.
Manning said: 'What hurts me the most about this, whoever this guy is, this slapstick trying to insinuate that in 2011, when more or less I had a broken neck - I had four neck surgeries - it stings me whoever this guy is to insinuate that I cut corners, I broke NFL rules in order to get healthy. It's a joke. It's a freaking joke.'
'I'm not going to lose any sleep over this report, this slapstick's lies.
WHAT ARE THE MEDICAL USES OF HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE?
Human growth hormone (HGH) is naturally produced in the pituitary glands and causes the body to grow.
It also helps to regulate muscle, fat and bone growth, among other things.
It was first developed for synthetic use in 1985 to treat specific developmental diseases, but is more commonly used by people who want to build muscle.
People with HIV/Aids use it to tackle muscle-wasting disease, as well as young children with developmental disorders and babies born prematurely.
Natural HGH production slows as people age, and some people believe injecting it can slow the ageing process, however this is not proven.
'I think I rotated between being angry, furious. Disgusted is really how I feel, sickened by it. I'm trying to understand how someone can make something up about somebody, admit that he made it up and yet somehow it gets published in a story. I don't understand that. Maybe you can explain it or somebody else can.
'It's completely fabricated, complete trash, garbage. There's more adjectives I'd like to be able to use. It really makes me sick.'
He continued: 'I can't speak for any other athlete. I know what I've done, I know how hard I've worked in my 18 years of playing in the NFL.
'There are no shortcuts in the NFL. I've done it the long way, I've done it the hard way. And to insinuate anything otherwise is a complete and total joke, it's defamation and it really ticks me off.'
'I went to the Guyer Clinic, they had an hyperbaric chamber that the [Indianapolis] Colts trainers and doctors thought might be good for me. They went with me and thought it might help. I don't know if it helped. It didn't hurt.'
He went on to criticize Al Jazeera for dragging up his wife's medical treatments, saying it was 'her business'.
'That has nothing to do with me. Nothing that was sent to her and my wife has used have I ever taken. Absolutely not,' he said.
'I have my treatments that I do. She may have hers, but that's her business. There's no connection between the two. I'd love to understand why this guy's saying this, why he made it up, that he admits he makes it up and yet it still becomes a story. I'd like to be told and explained that.'
The Broncos and Manning's former team the Indianapolis Colts - who he was playing for at the time of the allegations - have both come out in support of the star quarterback.
Dr Dale Guyer, from the Guyer Institute, told Daily Mail Online the allegations were 'completely fabricated'.
Read more:
Al Jazeera reporter: 'A second source' confirmed Manning's link to HGH - Jan. 3, 2016