The Al Jazeera documentary that reportedly will name several athletes as human growth hormone users, has yet to air. But the fervor around some of the names, including Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, and Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard has already begun. Besides the attorneys for some of the players named, even the original accuser is distancing himself from his own words.
Howard's attorney fired back at the "reckless" claims (via 6abc's Jeff Skversky):
"It's inexcusable and irresponsible that Al Jazeera would provide a platform and broadcast outright lies about Mr. Howard and Mr. Zimmerman. The extraordinarily reckless claims made against our clients in this report are completely false and rely on a source who has already recanted his claims. We will go to court to hold Al Jazeera and other responsible parties accountable for smearing our clients' good names."
The allegation came from Austin, Texas pharmacist Charles Slay in an undercover investigation by former Olympian Liam Collins, a former British hurdler. Collins went in asking for performance-enhancing drugs in order to try to out others. Slay says that he was making it all up to fool Collins.
In a Darren Rovell piece on ESPN Slay said that he told Al Jazeera after the fact that it was made up:
Sly said he was "testing" Al Jazeera's undercover reporter by dropping "names like Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, Ryan Howard and James Harrison." He said none were clients. While Manning, Howard and Harrison were mentioned in Al Jazeera's HGH investigation, Jeter was not.
"When I realized Al Jazeera was using a secret taping and Collins as a so-called investigative reporter, I was baffled," Sly said. "I cannot believe that can happen. That's why I recanted the story. It wasn't true, and I was trying to pull one over on Collins to see if he had any idea of what he was talking about.
"I was trying to determine whether this guy [Collins] was legitimate or just trying to steal some knowledge about the business."
If Al Jazeera did not properly do their homework, they could face great legal repercussion.
Watch Sly talk about Ryan Howard taking the banned "Delta 2" in the documentary here.
It is too early to know whether or not Howard used anything he was not supposed to from this clinic. Manning indicated that he did indeed visit the clinic, but only for professional, legal treatments. We should be sure to presume that Howard is innocent until there is any guilt. The Phillies have said they will let MLB do their usual response to such allegations, and will worry about it only if there is a real issue found.
You can watch the Al Jazeera report here:
Here is Sly's response, posted to You Tube, in which he reads a statement that says nothing should be taken seriously:
