Hmmm.

otl-tweet

https://twitter.com/OTLonESPN/status/679304105538535424

(Tweet has been deleted.)

Less than 30 minutes later:

I don’t trust either entity, so who knows the actual truth?

I do find it interesting that ESPN would call out the NFL for allegedly pulling out this concussion study, when ESPN pulled out of the Frontline documentary with PBS (reputedly at the NFL’s urging) on concussions a couple of years ago. The documentary was based on work done by the Fainaru brothers.

Also interesting: NFL does have the ability to refute what it says is an inaccurate report from ESPN? Who knew?

 

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

79 thoughts on “So, The NFL CAN Correct ESPN Reports?”

  2. So many things to comment on today…so much time as I procrastinate waiting for the holiday weekend, Chinese food and a movie! In no order:

    – So let me see if I have this correct. Odell Beckham Jr, launched at a defenseless player during a game with the crown of his helmet squarely hitting said player in the jaw and if he had been 4″ more to the left could have done serious spine damage…the rough and tough NFL commish gave this egregious offense (what did Jaws call it…the worst hit he has ever seen) 1 game. Now had he maybe known about the possible letting of less than 1psi of air out of a football…then he would have been in real trouble…then his team would have lost $1mil, 2 draft picks and he would have been suspended for 4 games. Luckily he only tried to KILL or seriously injure a fellow player and thank god the NFL is taking concessions and dangerous play seriously so seriously in fact this type of play is worthy of a punishment that is less than 25% as severe as God letting the air of footballs (because the NFL does not actually believe in science).

    – John Dennis nailed the optics of the ESPN story about the NFL pulling its CTE study funding. It looks horrible for the NFL. I doubt OTL got the story wrong. I am SHOCKED ESPN is running it. Absolutely SHOCKED. After the way ESPN went into the tank for the NFL on deflate gate I am amazed they are willing to take on the NFL with this bombshell. CTE is a huge problem for the NFL. I don’t think it will stop people from playing football nor do I think it will stop any one from watching it but it will cause huge amounts of money to be spent on retired player medical bills, new safer technology and PR. The movie Concussion is not going to help either. Look at my first point…the NFL is now at the US Appeals court level on deflated footballs yet they are fighting inaccuracies on the science behind CTE. Talk about having screwed up priorities.

    – Not related to either of these but I have to vent. I Fuc&*%g HATE Wade Boggs. He has always been my least favorite player since I saw his selfish act play out in Pawtucket. I won’t get into his off the field antics….I don’t need them. Boggs is celebrated for being this great hitter. Yet he was a horrible baseball player. Being a great hitter is not the same as being a great player. He would not sacrifice. He would not hit behind a runner to advance him. He would not hit for power to help the team because it would change his swing. He was only interested in his personal stats and he was NEVER a team first player. He is the epitome of all that is wrong with SABRMETRICS. On paper he looks great…high BA, high OBP, high OPS. But if you actually watch him play you would see a player who was the epitome of garbage time production and not producing when needed. A player who had no conception that he had teammates and that his actions effected them. He does not deserve to be in Cooperstown and his number should never, ever be held in the same standing as Williams, Ruth, Rice, Yaz or Fisk. Let the fuc&%#g Yankees retire his number. Oh and memo to the idiots who are running the Sox…don’t even think of retiring Roger Clemons number…that cheater.

    – I feel better…to Bruce and et al who celebrate, Merry Christmas. To all who are going for Chinese food and a movie…May the Force Be With You!

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    1. In Wade’s defense, he did work hard at his craft, especially his fielding, and during his career he transformed himself from a below-average third basemen into one of the better fielders in the American League at that position. I agree with the selfishness rant, however, and I’ll never forget his two awful at bats against the A’s in Game 1 of the ’88 LCS at Fenway. What was worse, however, is that for years and years, he begged the Sox to let him bat third, and when they finally gave in, he continued to treat every plate appearance as if he were still the leadoff hitter, even if swinging at a bad pitch just to make contact and drive in a run was the necessary thing to do at the moment. I remember one game where they had a hit-and-run on and he was supposed to swing at the first pitch, but didn’t, and the runner was caught stealing, thus killing the rally. Wade’s reply to questions after the game: “I’m not accustomed to swinging at the first pitch.” I never looked at him the same way again after that game. He was, however, an amazing hitter to watch if you just like pure hitting skills.

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      1. His hitting skills to me are like Drew Bledsoe’s throwing skills. The guy could throw 70 yards on a rope but he could not quarterback (and this is coming from a huge Bledsoe fan who was at the Minnesota game). There is a difference between throwing and QBing like there is a difference between hitting and batting. Boggs might have been a great pure hitter…my hatred for him colors my ability to even consider that notion…for example I do not think he was as good a pure hitter as Manny Ramirez… but he was a lousy batter and an even worse teammate. Ugh.

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    2. Two follow ups to your points.
      First I wonder how much of ESPN’s involvement with former players forces them to take a hard line with concussions as opposed to anything else.

      Second I can’t help but think the Boggs retirement is a tip of the cap to the sabermetrics fans. The Sox are all about their numbers and Boggs, the way I understand it, is considered one of the earliest moneyball players. I personally will never forget watching him ride around on a horse in the Bronx, but I’m an unforgiving SOB.

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      1. I think you may be on to something with the ESPN employing former players angle. That, in fact, also could be part of the reason why they toe the NFL’s line about the Patriots being the league’s anti-Christ franchise, since most of the former players/GM’s/coaches ESPN employs have axes to grind against BB and the Pats.

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        1. I think the concussion story is a win win for ESPN. It’s not new. Little effort or expense went into compiling the story since they did most of the work a few years ago. They then used this story as an attempt to look like they are hard hitting and not in the bag for the NFL. NFL obliges with the correction tweet. After the initial buzz passes no one will care about concussions or player safety just like always. The NFL, unlike their players, do not suffer any long term damage due to the story.

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    4. I would take a lineup filled of nine Wade Boggs any day. Getting on base 300+ times per year erases many sins, real and imagined.

      Although, admittedly, I don’t know how the Red Sox would make room on the plane for all the beer.

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      1. Yes but he was an unproductive hitter. So he was an a-hole who could have done so much more but he was so busy worrying about his stats…he ended up being the cornerstone of teams that the fans hated and which won nothing. Let the Yankees claim him…or even the Devil Rays!

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  3. To add onto this, from Michael Hurley:

    From here, it seems as though the NFL can easily issue a quick
    statement of correction when it deems it to be an appropriate course of
    action. Doing so takes less than an hour. So in the instances when the
    NFL has information, knows that an ESPN report contains false
    information, and chooses not to issue any correction whatsoever, we
    remain free to question the league’s motives for inaction.

    (In fact, “inaction” may be the wrong word. The NFL, via senior vice president David Gardi, actually informed the Patriots with false information. The team also released emails which showed the league’s steadfast refusal to publicly address or correct the information once the numbers became known to be false.)

    I forgot about this but it makes you laugh.

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    1. Breer is such a tool. I mean….Such. A. Tool. Still can’t understand how he ended up with a big-time national gig like the NFLN.

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        1. Imagine how ticked Bertie would be if he were actually, you know, PAYING for these airline tickets himself instead of expensing them out to his employer.

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          1. And, he’s one of those dbs who, if not already stipulated, will have his contract specify all travel must be in business-class or above. He’d still find a way to complain about something like the ice in his complimentary martini, not being cold enough.

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  6. Two quick things: “We don’t know what *player name here* will be like when he returns from injury” is the new sports host cliche that drives me up a f**king wall. That’s literally ALL I have heard from guys referring to Edleman, like there’s just as good a chance that he comes back looking like Aaron Dobson as he does his usual self. I wanna saw my ears off when I hear that.

    Also, Mazz and Adam Jones is without question the worst radio duo in the history of history. Lasted 6 minutes today. Ruined the Bedard segment for me. It’s two worthless gas bags trying to out negative the other guy for 4 hours.

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    1. Saw my ears off. Assume with a dull bread knife. Pulled over on the side of furnace brook parkway. Empty Wendys wrappers and Dunkin cups. That’s talent I’m rotflmao. What would you do to your eyes if shank is on tv?

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    2. Couldn’t agree more about the Mazz and Jones duo. It was a horrendous yesterday. I hate to say it, because I love local sports talk radio, but if this is what we get subjected to around the holidays, I’d almost rather they shut it down and just run the national CBS radio broadcasts instead of the local programming. It might be a nice change of pace in small doses and I’d prefer that over the types of clichéd “top 5 Christmas movie” discussions that seem to be filler du jour on the local airwaves.

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      1. ‘EEI fill-in’s haven’t been any better. Volin? Tanguay? Butch Stearns? DJ Bean may be a good hockey WRITER but doesn’t belong within 20 miles of a radio mic. Steph Stradley was on yesterday and Dale asked 99% of the questions. Butch asked one, DJ none. I am hoping to still hear Picard, Arcarnd, Mut, Curran, even Andy Hart.

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        1. After listening to Bean yesterday I’ve come to the conclusion that DJ stands for Dumb Jerk. An obvious graduate of the Felger School of Trollcasting.

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    3. That is why I podcast them. Two days in a row Mazz opens show about how he’s afraid of the Jets, that same team that barely won against a crap Cowboys team and embarrassed themselves for celebrating it likehey beat the 1992 Cowboys. Tony is back to using the Jets as his straw man since his other thug Ravens are sucking gas. Anyways that when I delete the rest of the show and save myself 4 hours of torture.

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    1. I’d be interested to know how this stat:

      nearly a quarter of those who listened to a radio station in the fall were listening to a sports station.

      compares to other markets. We’re one of a handful here with two full-time stations.

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    2. I’m not surprised. For me, the pendulum started to swing back towards EEI several months ago. I still probably listen a little more to 98.5, but it’s close to 50/50 now and continuing more and more in EEI’s direction. The Sports Hub shows have just become too in love with themselves.

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    3. I’ve noticed for awhile now that when a caller is on with Felger and criticizes their Patriots coverage, Felger doesn’t tell them to go listen to another show anymore. And wouldn’t you know that despite still having huge ratings the D&H is not going anywhere and in fact is gaining on F&M with big ratings of their own. If F&M continue to troll the Pats fans with no other objective then to get attention, it will eventually very soon come back to bite them in the ass. Because it appears that many like myself have taken them up on their suggestion to “listen to someone else”. Their arrogance will lead to their down fall just like the old Big Show. No show will survive for too much longer when they have “celebrity” callers who call in everyday with the same anti-Patriots takes. And congrats to Ordway for doubling the midday ratings and well on his way to making the Hub regret installing a Felger youth member and firing the other fat guy who actually knows sports and especially football. They’re still at the top but it’s now a competition. If they don’t get back to their roots then their reign will come to an end very soon.

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      1. Oh Christ, don’t even get me started on Carlton from Norwell and Danny from Quincy and the other squids who call F&M every day.

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        2. I clearly remember when Felger first started he was proclaiming that they would not ever do celebrity callers who call everyday with the same shtick like the Big Show. They’ve become the Big show. Bits, songs, the last word the same shtick callers everyday and cocky beyond belief.

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          1. Mike from Attleboro had to be their first, right? “Dakota” who always called with a landline but claimed to work in or used to work in sports media. Those are the two I remember from when I listened.

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    1. Chris Price, Doug Kyed, etc are debunking this pic by pic on Twitter. This guy clearly took Ben Volin’s “How to Google” class

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  9. Shoot down another media narrative about BB not being able to draft:

    What is especially pleasing to me is how many of these guys (McCourty, Collins, etc) were disputed picks.
    “Why draft Collins there? Brady needs weponz! They coulda taken him a in round 3! He played at a team that didn’t win a game, not a single game last year and its not like he was in the SEC.”

    “They coulda had Dez Bryant. Instead they trade and get a special teams guy!”

    “Look at the arrogance of Belichick, taking a kickah in round 3, he’s trying to show how smaht he is!”

    “A wide receiver from UCLA who never really played WR? Doesn’t BB know Brady needs weponz and not in round 7!?”
    ….

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  10. Ben Volin and Andy Hart on eei this morning. Wow the troll factor is strong. Hart is defending the mortenson report. What a tool.

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    1. How was he defending Mortensen’s “11 out 12 balls” report? I can understand going with the angle that Mortensen received information from source’s he trusted and that his confidence was reinforced when he saw Peter King and Gerry Austin also saying they had heard the same thing (because the NFL fed them the same false information.)

      Once the actual PSI information became available, it turned out that Mortensen’s report was not accurate, and he refused to back away from or amend his story, I don’t know how anyone can defend Mortensen. Apparently, he doesn’t mind being lied to and used by his sources. It’s still amazing to me that neither he nor King are curious at all about why the NFL would feed them false information about the Patriots.

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  11. Just a quick Happy Holidays to those that have been coming here for years and to the newer members who have brought fresh perspectives. And a thank you to Bruce for another year of great content.

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  12. Tony Mazz doesn’t get any satisfaction when Pats beat teams like Titans. Those are his words. Talk about being spoiled. Wait for the day after BB/Brady and see trolls like him wish for the days again when Pats dominance was boring.

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  13. Its the day after after Christmas and all through the house everyone was stir crazy especially this louse. So in front of the key board I decided to sit, and write about Boston Sports Media and all sorts of other poo. (BSMW is a family show you twit). Some random thoughts and observations I will make…if you feel like it add your take.

    – If the best the NBA has is Sacramento/ Cleveland it is no wonder that Sacramento is 28-1 or whatever they are. It is no small feat in any sport to do what Sacramento is doing. Scratch that…what they are doing, keeping their focus and health together night in and night out is amazing. However the competition they are beating is just not very good. At times I have leveled criticism at how bad the NBA game is. I have not been able to watch it in 20 years…maybe longer. I watched the Sacramento/Cleveland game because there was nothing else on and I was out numbered. It was difficult to watch. There was absolutely no flow to the game. One positive observation…Steph Curry looks to me to be a better player than Lebron….maybe it is who he is playing with…maybe it is expectations I am not sure.

    – I have zero feel for the Pats/Jets game and the manufactured Brady/Revis feud. I think the Pats would be smart to not rush Edelman back and give him 3 more weeks. I think they should do the same for Amandola and Hightower. In doing so they will go into NY understaffed. Todd Bowles is doing a really good job this year and I think he should be a coach of the year candidate (although Ron Rivera will get it when Carolina goes 16-0), as such he seems to have exorcized he demons of Rex, he has the team playing well on both sides of the ball and most importantly he has them buttoned down and focused on the game not the hype. The Pats should win but I absolutely would not be surprised if they don’t depending on who plays. Of course no one in the media…I mean no one…is looking at this game critically.

    – Speaking of the Brady/Revis rift. Two assumptions the media made that I am not convinced are true:
    1) That Brady and Revis were buddies. Respected teammates absolutely. Buddies…no idea.

    2) That Revis understood the way Brady thinks and yet he still made his deflate gate comments.

    – The curious case of the Steven Jackson signing and the way it was covered disappointed me. Jackson was not signed when Lewis went down because they play two different positions. He was signed when Blount went down because they are the same type of back. All the other speculation that Belichick did not want Jackson is ridiculous. Belichick thinks in the now and in the 10 minutes from now. He does not think about the past. At least not when it comes to personnel.

    – Is anyone up for starting a kickstarter campaign with me so we can get the BSMW Bowl to be played traditionally on Dec 23 at noon when no one can possibly be watching? I figure the NCAA gives out bowls to anyone with a stadium so we can hold ours at Fenway (no one uses it in the winter…I am thinking we could easily jump over the gate, line the field and then open a service door to let the fan and both teams in). With December now the new May in terms of weather this could be a huge event…Who is with me?

    – We did not talk about it when the story broke but channel 7 losing its NBC affiliation is going to significantly change the Boston TV market. I remember when 4 was NBC and 7 was CBS and they switched…that was difficult…but moving NBC to a UHF station…kind of bizarre. I can’t understand how a better solution has not been worked out.

    – Lastly, completely unrelated to sports. I saw the New Star Wars on Christmas Day. It was pretty awesome. I could go on and on about all that was right and all that was wrong but there is no need…for $7.50 at a matinee showing out here in South Dennis on Christmas Day I am not sure I have ever had a better value for my entertainment dollar.

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    1. It will be interesting to see how the media plays this. They (the media), collectively, have essentially acted as his Palace Guard/defacto P.R. agency ever since he came into the league, and most have cornered the market on making excuses for his post-season failures over the years. If there is anything to this story, they can’t ignore it. But, which angle will they take when they do cover? They certainly rushed to judgment of Brady over the idiotic ball-deflation nonsense, and they continue to judge him harshly for his various off-field associations (the Trump angle being perhaps the most ridiculous). With Manning, my guess is that “waiting until all the facts are in before we jump to any conclusions” will be the approach. Why would they change their stripes now after 17+ years of fawning over the guy?

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  15. Well the Peyton Manning story has legs. I woke up this morning to this Mike Florio piece on profootballtalk.com.

    http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/12/27/peyton-manning-adds-ari-fleischer-to-hgh-allegation-p-r-effort/

    Florio is correctly dubious of Peyton’s strategy and makes the flooding points:

    – He hired Ari Fletcher to spin the story. That in itself is probably a smart move as Manning is still a dumb hick from Louisiana. However the way they are defending Manning is leading to a lot more questions.

    – He then went and spoke with Chris Mortensen, long time friend of the Manning and willing dupe who will carry the NFL’s water whenever needed to avoid doing actual work.

    – He admitted to Mort to using the lab for ‘holistic” treatments. So he was there that in itself will give legs and credibility to the story.

    – He told Mort he will not discuss his wife’s medical treatment. This sounds to me an awful lot like Roger Clemens throwing Debbie under the bus. He did not deny that she received HGH from the lab. He only denied that she gave him medicine to take. He was preparing for the evidence to drop showing the lab sent his wife HGH. To me this is the most damning. It gives Sly way more credibility that the slander campaign already under way will give him. Sly’s recanting in the face of this firestorm already looks dubious…Florio is critical of Sly’s recanting.

    – He specifically replied to the comments Sly made that he went after hours to the clinic by saying he specifically went at 5:15 when the clinic closes at 5:00 because of his busy schedule. Please…of all the stupid things to say. He is a pro football player. He could go at 6:00 am. He could go at 5:15pm. The clinic would be there for him whenever he needed it to be open. He is Peyton ‘freakin'” Manning nothing is ever closed to him. By attempting to preempt that he went to the clinic outside hours as if that is a defense tells me he was there outside of hours. Now the question is did he do it to hide what he was doing. It was stupid to bring this up and make this part of the story. Why point a light to the very behavior that was easiest to explain away?

    – The Al Jazeera report seems to be well researched (I cannot believe I typed that sentence) and seems to have done its homework…enough so I will watch it later today to make sure what is reported is what they teased. Collins was the perfect guy to send into the clinic and get him to talk to Sly. He was a world class athlete who had dabbled on the edges what is right and wrong and wanted one more taste of glory. Sly could have been lying to enhance his reputation but why tell a Brit about made up American stars taking your medicine. There is a chance he will not know Manning or Ryan Howard or Clay Matthews or any of the other stars he mentioned. Further Sly revealed just how pervasive HGH and some other drugs are in sports and how hard they are for doping agencies to test for them.

    This story is already a mess and we are only 12 hours into it. The good news for Manning is he did not threaten the integrity of the game by allegedly maybe knowing about a criminal conspiracy to maybe let less than 1PSI out of footballs on a cold day when Mother Nature could have done it. Had he done that the NFL would be $20 mill into investigating him. Taking banned substances and hiding it with masking agents, using high powered PR flacks who used to work for the President and throwing your wife under the bus will basically mean this story only has a day or two of legs before it dies at least with ESPN. Having said that…it is curious who a guy with his neck problems came back and is now playing in the NFL. The ‘holistic” treatments he received must have been AWESOME!

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    1. 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.)

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  16. I just watched all 49 minutes of the Al Jazeera report (another sentence I thought I would never type). You can see it here:

    http://www.aljazeera.com/investigations/

    Manning stuff is at the 41 minute mark.

    I highly recommend you watch it all. It is clear they spent a lot of time and money chasing this story. They make a very compelling argument all through hidden camera stuff. The hidden camera stuff was all edited so without seeing the countless hours of raw footage there is always going to be some doubt about context. Within the report there were several main players the central one being this Charlie Sly who has since recanted everything. He now claims he knew it was sting and he was lying to see if Collins (the undercover Brit) was really serious. The amount of drugs Sly gets Collins on tape and which Al Jazeera has documented and kept as evidence shoots that explanation out of the water.

    So where are we. There is an explosive report about PEDs now linking Mike Neal, Ryan Howard, Julius Peppers and Peyton Manning out there. There is also a report that Clay Mathews used illegal methods to get narcotic pain killers so he could play through injury. Further Sly says so the report alleges that Matthews took HGH when he was younger.

    The Manning stuff is fascinating. The report had this Endocrinologist on at the end who explained there are only 3 legal reasons for HGH to be prescribed… One had to do with AIDS, one with bowel issues and the last with actual growth issues usually in adolescents. There should not be any medical reason Ashley Manning was being prescribed HGH. At least not a legal one. So if Peyton stands behind that story, that his wife received the medicine she stands to be the fall guy for him and he is even more of a tool that we in NE have always thought him to be. For the record Al Jazeera confirmed that Sly worked at the Guyer institute in 2011 when Manning was a patient there and when Manning was still in Indy. Sly now saying he worked there in 2013 is a lie. So the cover up has started. It should not be that difficult to find out if Fedex or UPS were delivering packages from Guyer to Ashley Manning in that time…some enterprising reporter will find that out. So that is why Manning hired Ari Fleischer…he knows whats coming. He can’t just deny. My guess is ESPN will circle the wagons and defend him, deflecting the story. Ditto the NFL network. The question is will publications like the WSJ or the NYT let this go or will they chase. Further will Al Jazeera which has no real credibility continue to chase this to make a name for itself. If I were them I would. They don’t really have anything to loose. The initial report looks to have been well done and buttoned down.

    The NFL cannot be happy. They look like incompetent fools for allowing this to happen under their watch. They blame the players association for restrictions of testing. In the end Goodell will look toothless yet again as he will do nothing. If as alleged 20% of players or more are doing something illegal…not against the NFL’s rules but actually illegal…and they are not doing something about it they are an accessory.

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    1. People who are wondering “What does Gregg Doyel think about this?” really need to re-examine their lives.

      Also, Manning was already in Denver for a couple of years before Doyel went to work in Indianapolis. I understand the Manning is revered there, but Doyel being an outsider who converted to Colts cheerleader is just odd to me.

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  19. Gonna need some tighter edits..

    Bruce, I think you’ve got the topic for your next post..

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  20. The wagons have been circled around Peyton. I imagine him yelling in his Ron Burgandy voice – “NewsTeam! Assemble!”

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  21. Via our buddy, Bob Kravitz:

    Overall, the tone is of a *SHOCKER* responsible journalist. Questionable source. Lots of questions. Wait, don’t just accuse and be responsible later? What? Oh, that’s right … it’s not the Patriots.

    It’s safe to assume that if Manning did, in fact, receive HGH from
    Dr. Guyer, he used it in an effort to recover from the multiple neck
    surgeries that sidelined him the entire 2011 season and put his career
    in peril. This was a time when Manning was desperate to return to the
    field, even going overseas to try some procedures that are not yet
    accepted in the United States.

    Wait, so using PEDs is safe, harmless … just a guy trying to get better? LaRon Landry on line one for ya, Bobby.

    If it’s true, though, Manning cheated. No, he wasn’t trying to gain an edge from performance-enhancing drugs, as so many athletes do. He was simply attempting to return to the football field.

    Didn’t the NFL and Goodell say that deflating footballs is akin to PEDs? Integrity of the game? blah blah blah.

    My god this is hilarious watching these idiots.

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  25. Multi-billion-dollar corporation and your “ombudsman” acts like a 13 year-old girl does watching American Idol and her least favorite contestant gets voted off:

    Tells you all about journalism entering 2016 and ESPN.

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  26. The Manning story gets better and better. Now Peyton is so angry he might just sue. Really…he would be willing to allow his wife to be disposed? He would be willing to allow Guyot’s records to be subpoenaed? He would allow discovery of Fedex records in his wife’s name? He is so full of crap his eyes are brown. He has already shot his load. He denied everything. Now it is up to his side to come up with a plausible reason his wife was receiving HGH shipments illegally. They do not have a reason. He knows it and we all know it. Now if he is smart (which he isn’t) he will shut up. He has nothing to gain now that he has lied and given credence to the Al Jazeera story. This is a mess of his own making…well his egos making.

    Next up is the NFL’s next step. I don’t think the NFL can do nothing. 5 NFL players were mentioned by name in the story. So let’s see if they are willing to spend money on a teethes investigation run by a corrupt lawyer.

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    1. Now it is up to his side to come up with a plausible reason his wife was receiving HGH shipments illegally.

      I don’t think he will have to. The national media is already trying to bury this, so I doubt it will ever happen. While he “threatened” to sue, I think it is more probable than not he doesn’t want more details coming out.

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  27. Meadowlark Lemon died in the last day. When I was 9 years old I saw him play for the Harlem Globetrotters at the then brand new Providence Civic Center. I remember laughing all game and leaving wondering “how did he make that shot”. Some part of me wishes there could be a little more Meadowlark Lemon in sports today and a little less Meta World Peace.

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  28. Tomase with the irony piece of the year:

    persecution complexes came roaring back in less time than it took the
    appropriately named Charlie Sly to recant unwitting confessions

    Recanting confessions.. interesting..

    Because Al Jazeera lacks a track record reporting on American sports,
    and because of credibility questions surrounding both Collins and Sly
    (who says he lied, and by the way sounds like he was named by a drug
    dealer), the case isn’t exactly air tight.

    Gotta love John using the word ‘credibility’. Sounds like they single sourced and ran with it?

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      1. I’d guess at least 1,500 follow him just to troll him.

        The twitter responses are pretty funny though.

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  31. Kinda puts everything into perspective, right?

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    1. No…the correct answer is Brady was incredulous that he would have to defend himself by proving he didn’t do anything. Brady was telling the truth from the start, he was incredulous that 1) no one believed him and 2) after all the scientific evidence came out exonerating him that still no one outside NE believed him. The aggressiveness of his response would have had no bearing.

      In Manning’s case he has no choice but to duplicate Roger Clemens strategy because he is both delusional and guilty. He knows it, anyone who has an ounce of a brain knows it…(as more proof…if Sly worked for Guyer in 2013 how would he know that HGH was sent to Ashley Manning all over the place including Florida…in 2011, which Manning effectively admitted to when he was throwing her under the bus.)..So he attacks and hopes he can scare off Al Jazeera and scare Sly into being quiet. The second part worked…or it will work until the Feds launch an investigation, get hold of his real ledger and give him the choice to either sing or do time at Sing Sing.

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      1. If you’re talking about Manning singing to the Feds…. The Feds don’t care. HGH and the masking agents aren’t controlled substances. Obtaining them without a prescription bears the same penalty that obtaining amoxicillin without a prescription does — it’s covered by state law, it’s probably a misdemeanor at best, and it’s only of Federal interest if you brought the substance in from outside the country. (And even then, unless you’re doing it in large quantities, it’s probably not a thing they’d pursue.) If he purchased and received anabolic steroids…. now they’re interested, as a Federal law has been violated. But until then… nope. There are Federal laws concerning people who SELL prescription drugs without a valid prescription…. but none concerning people who buy non-controlled substances without one.

        If you’re talking about Sly singing to the Feds… The Feds will only care if they’re confident Sly had provable access to the records of how the clinic conducted business. Otherwise, he’s just telling tales, like a lot of people do. And even then, frankly, I think the Feds are out of the PED business. Bonds was a colossal waste of Federal time and money that achieved precisely nothing. There are Eastern European mobsters kidnapping women for sex slavery and smuggling them into the US. That’s a little more important a thing from the Justice Department’s perspective than Peyton Manning coming back from injury a little faster.

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        1. Manning is not singing. The person who might is Sly. You and I disagree. I think the Feds would love to take the NFL down a notch or two. If they can show that there is an illegal drug ring operating in the NFL that gets players prescription narcotics and other drugs with impunity then I think they would take the shot and cause problems.

          Having said that you are probably right nothing will happen at the Fed level. At the state level…especially in Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida and Colorado there should some sort of investigation. At the league level there should be a massive investigation…my guess is we will hear crickets.

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