NFL investigating HGH allegations against Peyton Manning

For the second straight year, the NFL is conducting an investigation regarding one of its star quarterbacks with that player set to play in the Super Bowl in two weeks.  The league confirmed to the Associated Press that they are investigating the recent allegations by Al Jazeera that Peyton Manning had HGH delivered to his house.

The AP reports that the investigation began weeks ago but is not expected to be concluded before the Super Bowl (just like last year with Tom Brady and Deflategate).  Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL, told the AP that the investigation "involves reviews of records, interviews, and coordination with other agencies." The NFL is not joining with the MLB and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for the investigation but rather conducting their own.

Back in December, Al Jazeera reported allegations made by a former intern at an Indianapolis clinic that said that HGH was shipped to Manning's home in 2011, while the Colts quarterback was recovering from a serious neck injury.  Charlie Sly, the intern, said that the HGH was shipped to the Manning's home under the name of Peyton's wife, Ashley, so as not to raise suspicion.  It was strongly implied that the HGH was for Peyton Manning, though Al Jazeera has backed off of that implication and instead said that they simply reported that it was shipped to Ashley Manning.  This is likely in preparation for an eventual lawsuit filed by Manning, though it does prevent more problems due to Ashley's medical situation being made public.  Furthermore, Charlie Sly has since denied his claims, saying that he made it up.

In other words, there doesn't appear to be much of a case here unless the NFL discovers more evidence in their investigation.  The story has died out pretty quickly, and that's likely to most people realizing that it's simply one person's claims against Peyton Manning's word (he has very adamantly denied the allegations), and the one person (Sly) who was making the allegations has since denied them.  No matter how you look at it, that's not a very strong case to be made against Manning.

At the same time, however, it's the NFL's responsibility to investigate the claims.  They can't simply decide that this report is false without first looking into it, and that's exactly what they're doing.  There's nothing wrong with the league investigation and it's not abnormal, as it's simply them doing their job.  There's nothing to get worked up about here, as though it appears the case isn't strong, the league should also be commended for still looking into it.