Eventually, it’ll be easier to list the people who haven’t issued a statement in connection with the report that Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning used HGH while recovering from various neck surgeries when playing for the Colts.
The latest to chime in is Dale Guyer of the Guyer Institute in Indianapolis, the facility that reportedly provided HGH to Manning, through his wife, Ashley.
“I have no reason to believe these allegations are based in fact or have any truth,” Dr. Guyer said. “In fact, I can say with absolute certainty they are not. I find it extremely disturbing that the source of Al Jazeera’s story, a former unpaid student intern named Charles Sly, would violate the privacy of Mrs. Manning’s medical records and be so callous and destructive as to purposely fabricate and spread stories that are simply not true.”
That’s a clunky and confusing sentence. If the claim is fabricated, Sly isn’t violating Ashley Manning’s privacy. Sly is violating the privacy of Ashley Manning only if she did indeed receive HGH from the Guyer Institute.
Meanwhile, as the statements pile up regarding the Peyton Manning report, Ashley Manning’s silence becomes even more conspicuous.
“I would emphasize that Mr. Sly was never an employee of the Guyer Institute and his brief three-month internship occurred in 2013 during which time Peyton was not even being treated or present in the office,” Dr. Guyer said. “I think it is obvious that Mr. Sly has fabricated this whole thing for reasons I cannot fathom. I am proud to have treated Peyton and helped him through his rehabilitation. Mr. Manning is one of the most honorable and upstanding individuals I have had the pleasure of knowing.”
The fact that Sly didn’t work for the Guyer Institute in 2011 doesn’t mean he didn’t have access to records or that he hadn’t heard company secrets. And while Dr. Guyer doesn’t mention that Sly recanted the claim, it’s hardly uncommon for people to say things privately that they’d never say publicly. Sly could be smart enough to know that saying harmful things openly about a client of the Guyer Institute could, at a minimum, create problems for Sly in whatever he’s doing now or hoping to do in the future.
Either way, the statements will continue to flow — and people will form their opinions about the situation without ever knowing the full, objective, and unvarnished truth.