On my way to check my fantasy football roster this morning, I stumbled across an intentionally provocative headline on the CBS Sports website arguing that "In Peyton's case, using HGH to heal is no crime." The article, written by CBS Sports columnist Gregg Doyel, argues that if doctors prescribe HGH to heal Peyton Manning's injured neck, he should be allowed to take it and, as soon as he's ready, play in the NFL. Doyel asserts that this would be fair, since it would be for medical (and not performance enhancing) purposes, and would be good for the NFL because it would ensure that one of the league's marquee players returns to the field faster. Doyel acknowledges, however, that fans are already mentally opposed to HGH, but claims that people are missing the point - that if a doctor says it's OK for Peyton, then we should accept it.
To me, Doyel is missing a lot in his argument. First, we need to think about what's best for Peyton Manning and his legacy. As of now, Manning is considered one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game of football, and one of the NFL's best ambassadors as well. The way his team has been struggling so far this season without him is further testament to his value, and suggests that he might be an even greater asset than his extremely-impressive career numbers originally lead us to believe. Manning is a first-ballot Hall of Famer who can't do anything to change the public's opinion of him; except, that is, start using HGH to recover from his off-season neck surgery.
Additionally, we're walking along a very slippery slope here if we agree to let Peyton Manning use HGH to recover from his injury. This is the National Football League we're talking about - it's the most savage sports league in the world and, despite the league's efforts to protect its players with rule changes, virtually every player is injured every week. Where would we draw the line between who's injured enough to take HGH and who's just "regular injured?" You can quickly see every player lining up to take HGH to recover from sore muscles, ankle tweaks and all sorts of very routine ailments, creating a league of suped-up freaks. And the fact that a doctor prescribes the HGH doesn't really change anything - as we've seen in other sports (baseball, track and field, etc.) there are tons of unsavory characters in the sports medicine community willing to do anything for a buck. Don't think anything will change when it comes to prescribing HGH to NFLers.
It's easy to say that allowing Manning to take HGH to recover from his neck injury is a "no brainer" when you don't think about the long term consequences of such a move. Admittedly, neither the NFL nor fantasy football are as fun or exciting without Peyton Manning under center for the Colts every weekend. But, unfortunately, injuries are part of football; they've derailed the careers of great players before, and they're surely do so again in the future. There's no reason to risk the NFL's rock-solid relationship with its fans by allowing one of its stars to do what many will perceive as break the rules, though. At the end of the day, the NFL is an entertainment property, and I think most fans will find an HGH-fueled Peyton Manning more upsetting than entertaining.
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