Peyton Manning adds Ari Fleischer to HGH allegation P.R. effort
In the case of Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who issued a personal statement on Saturday night calling the report from Al Jazeera regarding secretly-taped claims that he used HGH in 2011 “complete garbage,” Peyton isn’t content to rely simply on his denial. White House press secretary Ari Fleischer also has been enlisted to speak on Manning’s behalf.
“There’s no truth to it,” Fleischer said of the report, via Troy E. Renck and Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. “What they have is a well-known con man from England who secretly recorded a former intern.”
The former Guyer Institute intern, Charles Sly, reportedly has recanted the claim that Manning used HGH. Sly was caught on tape (unbeknownst to him) making the allegations by Liam Collins, a British hurdler who went undercover in an effort to expose PED use in sports. Sly told Al Jazeera that the statements attributed to him are “absolutely false and incorrect,” and that Collins took advantage of Sly during a vulnerable period following the passing of his fiancé. Sly separately told ESPN that he lied to Collins to test his legitimacy. (At some point, the sheer volume of alternative explanations from Sly makes each of them curious, at best.)
Peyton supplemented his Saturday night statement with comments to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, who has a long relationship with the Manning family and has broken many Manning-related stories, including Peyton’s selection of the Broncos in 2012. (Patriots fans will appreciate — or not — the irony of Mortensen’s early involvement in the life cycle of this specific story.)
“For the record, I have never used HGH,” Manning told Mortensen. “It absolutely never happened. The whole thing is totally wrong. It’s such a fabrication, I’m not losing any sleep over it, that’s for sure.”
He may not be losing sleep over it, but Manning or someone close to him is sufficiently concerned about the donut hole that emerged on Saturday to retain the services of someone who helps high-profile people put out P.R. firestorms for a living.
“The treatment he received at the Guyer Institute was provided on the advice of his physician and with the knowledge of team doctors and trainers,” Manning’s agent told Al Jazeera in connection with the original story on the matter. “Any medical treatment received by Ashley [Manning] is a private matter of hers, her doctor, and her family.”
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