Peyton Manning Says a Lawsuit Likely: ‘I’m That Angry’

Peyton Manning says the Al Jazeera accusations that he used performance-enhancing drugs enrage him so much that he may sue.

“Yeah, I probably will,” the Broncos quarterback told MMBQ editor Peter  King about a lawsuit. “I’m that angry.”

Al Jazeera used surreptitiously made recordings that included accusations that a clinic in Indiana provided Manning with human-growth hormone in 2011 as he recovered from a career-threatening neck injury. Charlie Sly, the man who boasted of Manning receiving the performance enhancers in the Al Jazeera documentary, now disowns his statements. He characterizes them as a means to feel out a track-and-field star that he saw as a possible business competitor. Liam Collins, a British hurdler, went undercover for Al Jazeera to glean information about doctors and medical professionals who aid athletes in schemes to dope.

Defamation suits, which generally require actual malice from defendants for plaintiffs to emerge victorious, can prove difficult to win. Beyond the high threshold for victory, the suits open the plaintiff up for embarrassment through the discovery process. Beyond this, a suit may bring more attention to a story that Manning desperately wants to go away.

So, what Manning itches to do in anger he may rethink with a cooler head.