Firm's Role in Fighting Peyton Manning PED Allegations to Be Subject of Discovery

An investigative firm hired by Peyton Manning is the subject of discovery in a case involving claims made against the Hall of Fame quarterback in a documentary that aired in December 2015. 

Per The Athletic's Daniel Kaplan, magistrate judge Robin Meriweather has given the "go-ahead for Al Jazeera to conduct discovery into whether investigative firm Phenix, hired by Manning and his lawyers, pressured Charles Sly into backing away from the claims he made in 'The Dark Side.'"

Kaplan noted that Meriweather unsealed filings from a 2018 motion in which Al Jazeera wrote about alleged pressure Sly received from Phenix, including a "log of calls and text messages to and from the phone used by Sly."

The phone included "five contacts between Sly and 317- , a number associated with Brian Bauer CEO and president of Phenix; 117 contacts between Sly and 317- , a number registered to Benjamin A. Ford, senior investigator and director of counterintelligence with Phenix, all between Dec. 16, 2015, and Jan.9, 2016."

The motion also stated Sly and Ford exchanged 96 text messages "between Dec. 24, 2015, and Dec.30, 2015, the dates immediately before and after Sly recorded the (recanting) video and sent the emails (to Al Jazeera recanting)."

In a separate 2018 motion filed by Phenix that Kaplan noted was recently unsealed, the firm noted it does "not possess any unique knowledge about the circumstances regarding Sly’s recantation."

Manning was among several athletes allegedly connected to a doping ring that was the subject of the Al Jazeera investigative unit. 

The documentary was centered around British hurdler Liam Collins, who went undercover "in an attempt to expose the widespread nature of performance-enhancing drugs in global sports."

In December 2015, Travis Waldron and Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post noted the report asserted that Manning received human growth hormones from an anti-aging clinic in Indianapolis. 

Charlie Sly, a pharmacist who worked at the clinic, told Collins in the documentary he was on the "medical team that helped [Manning] recover" from the neck surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2011 season. 

Sly alleged the HGH was mailed to Ashley Manning, Peyton's wife, and would "never be under" his name. 

In a statement released on YouTube around the time of the documentary's release, Sly recanted what he told Collins:

Manning, who was playing with the Denver Broncos at the time of the documentary's airing, denied the allegations in a statement release by the team:

Per Will Hobson and Justin Wm. Moyer of the Washington Post, Manning had his lawyers launch a private investigation, led by Phenix, into the accusations made against him. 

Kaplan included Meriweather's statement about allowing Al Jazeera to proceed with discovery:

"The jury will likely need to decide whether to credit Mr. Sly’s original allegations in 'The Dark Side,' or his subsequent recantation of those allegations. The circumstances surrounding his recantation are relevant to that credibility determination. Evidence that Mr. Sly’s recantation was coerced indicates that his original allegations against Mr. Zimmerman were truthful; evidence that the recantation was sincere indicates that his original allegations against Mr. Zimmerman were false."

Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard, who were also implicated by Sly in the documentary, filed a federal lawsuit against Al Jazeera in the wake of the allegations. The lawsuit remains ongoing, though Manning is not listed as a plaintiff. 

In June 2018, Eriq Gardner of The Hollywood Reporter obtained court papers from the lawsuit in which Al Jazeera America suggests one of Manning's lawyers, Ted Olson, "confirmed much of what Sly had said" in the documentary.

The NFL announced in June 2016 it found "no credible evidence" that Manning was provided with and/or used HGH after conducting its own investigation.