But investigative reporter Deborah Davies felt the need to reiterate one major point of the documentary, The Dark Side, as she spoke with NBC’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.