Cleft lip hero QB Peyton Manning faces accusations.

Talk about hitting a player after he’s down. An “allegation” about cleft lip Bronco quarterback Peyton Manning using prohibited Human Growth Hormone (HGH) surfaced while Manning was sidelined by a foot injury (partially torn plantar fascia in his left foot). The idea that Peyton Manning is now the backup QB for the Broncos jars all of us who consider him a hero as a five-time NFL league MVP. 

If you are a die-hard Manning fan, this one-two punch hurts. As readers know, I’ve celebrated Manning in various blogs as an immensely talented and squeakly clean athlete. Not only is he a cleft lip and palate survivor, he recently fought back after four surgeries to repair a significant neck injury. 

And talk about “piling on” (a football term for jumping on a pile atop of a tackled player), old accusations about Manning being an unfaithful husband have resurfaced.

Read the following excerpts regarding the HGH accusations and the infidelities. Then search for more facts and come to your own conclusions. 

Some backpedalling has happened.

According to USA Today, “The Al Jazeera reporter  [who] linked Peyton Manning to human growth hormone isn’t fully backing off the claims in Sunday’s broadcast.

But investigative reporter Deborah Davies felt the need to reiterate one major point of the documentary, The Dark Side, as she spoke withNBC’s Today show Tuesday about “the very short section at the end everybody has picked up on.”

“The only allegation in the program from Charlie Sly is that growth hormone was sent repeatedly from Guyer (Institute) to Ashley Manning in Florida,” Davies said. “We’re not making the allegation against Peyton Manning.”

The report was based on statements made by Sly, a former employee of the Indianapolis-based Guyer Institute who has since retracted the claims made against Manning and other athletes. Those “extraordinary claims” included “whether an American sporting hero, Peyton Manning, is linked to performance-enhancing drugs.”

The documentary, which didn’t outright say Manning used performance-enhancing drugs, points out that HGH is banned by the NFL and explained how the NFL Players Association initially pushed back on the implementation of the blood test that detects the synthetic drug, leaving viewers to draw their own conclusions.

Manning and his wife, Ashley, were patients of the Guyer Institute.”

The cleft lip phenom responds to the “clarification” of Al Jazeera “allegations. 

“Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary whom Manning hired, said the statement constituted a reversal on the story.

‘Al Jazeera is backtracking and retreating,’ Fleischer said in a statement. ‘Their story was not credible to begin with and it’s not credible now. Within 48 hours of the broadcast, Deborah Davies is now contradicting her own reporting.’

Manning told ESPN that the treatments he received were “holistic in nature, but never HGH” as he recovered from multiple neck procedures in 2011 as a member of theIndianapolis Colts. He said the Colts, who called the report “utterly ridiculous” in a statement, authorized all the treatments he received.

According to NFL Network, Manning’s wife did have a prescription from the Guyer Institute, although the name of the drug was not released.

“It’s completely fabricated. Complete trash, garbage,” Peyton Manning told ESPN. “There are some more adjectives I’d like to be able to use, but it really makes me sick. It makes me sick that it brings Ashley into it, her medical history, her medical privacy being violated. That makes me sick. I don’t understand that.”

Cleft lip hero QB Peyton Manning.

Older allegations regarding infidelity.

From an online story about the “top 15 most unfaithful NFL players.

“#5 Peyton Manning

Manning holds up the image of a squeaky-clean standup guy—the type of guy you could bring home for the holidays. But things aren’t always what they seem. While it’s still mere rumors, many speculate that he has been cheating on his wife with television meteorologist Angela Buchman that involved a 2 year long relationship. Others say they have also seen him receiving sexual favors in a car outside of the Superdome in Louisiana from a couple of the NFL cheerleaders, but we’ll leave it at that.

 #1 Tom Brady 

He knows how to cheat on and off the field–and we’re not just talking about locker room ball deflations. In 2006, Brady left his pregnant girlfriend, Bridget Moynahan, after more than three years together. Days after he left Moynahan, Brady confirmed his relationship with supermodel Gisele Bundchen and said they’d been dating since “sometime before Christmas,” according to sources. The fact that Tom Brady has turned out to be such a disappointment is pretty deflating in itself.”

 

“Manning’s infidelities are simply a matter of rumors at this point. A lot of rumors. But then, so were Tiger Woods’ many infidelities for quite a while. Like Woods, Manning’s image and reputation are one of a squeaky clean, all American kinda guy. He’s the sort of guy mothers across the country want their daughters to bring on home for family dinner. That’s the image and the reputation that Manning banks on.

But image and reality are often two different things entirely.

According to the many rumors floating around, the most persistent one is of his relationship with an Indianapolis area television meteorologist named Angela Buchman. It’s rumored that Manning and Buchman carried on a relationship between 2009-2011.

There are a number of other crazy, completely dubious rumors about Manning swirling around on the internet such as he was seen receiving sexual favors in a car outside of the Superdome in Louisiana, to the rumor that he delayed a team flight in Atlanta because he was busy – ahem – “entertaining” two of the Falcons’ cheerleaders.

But the Buchman rumor is the one that is most persistent, and the fact that she’s been photographed with Manning and his wife at numerous events has only added fuel to the fire. Whether it’s true or not, we can’t say for sure. But oftentimes, where there is smoke, there is fire – and sometimes, where there’s fire, there’s a golf club upside the head. Just ask Tiger Woods.”

So, what do you think? Leave a comment or two.

My latest book, PRIVILEGED KILLERS, is a true story about a half-dozen Dark Triad people in my everyday life - narcissists, manipulators, and psychopaths. Three of 'em murdered people, and one came after my wife and me. Print and e-book versions of this (and CLEFT HEART) available at Amazon and elsewhere online. Also at your local bookstore.