Archie Manning Backs Broncos Peyton

Peyton Manning’s father Archie has backed his son over allegations the Broncos quarterback took the banned substance HGH, telling ESPN: “He didn’t. He said he didn’t. He didn’t.”

A report from Al Jazeera America in December linked Peyton to human growth hormone delivered to his wife while he was recovering from neck surgery in 2011, but Archie Manning insisted his son has never taken anything he shouldn’t have.

“I didn’t like [the report]. I thought it was some pretty shabby journalism,” Manning Sr said on ESPN’s Mike & Mike. “Actually, I hadn’t done a lot of interviews this year. This is the first time I’ve been asked about it. But I’m pretty much with him.

“He told me: ‘I didn’t do that.’ I always had a saying when he was going through everything, and he had to talk to a lot of different doctors and trainers, and I always said: ‘No voodoo.’ That was kind of our theme. And he didn’t. He said he didn’t. He didn’t.”

The report claims Manning received HGH from an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic in 2011 while he was still with the Colts. It said the drug, which was banned by the NFL in 2011, was delivered to his wife, Ashley, so that the quarterback’s name was never attached to the shipments.

Manning denied the story when it emerged just after Christmas. “The allegation that I would do something like that is complete garbage and is totally made up. It never happened. Never,” he said.

“I really can’t believe somebody would put something like this on the air. Whoever said this is making stuff up.”

Peyton Manning also supports an NFL investigation into the report.

“I do welcome it. It’s no news to me,” Manning said in January. “I still stand by what I said then – that it’s garbage from the first day that it came out, garbage today.”

Archie Manning also said he hasn’t spoken with his son about whether he’ll retire next year – but thinks Peyton hasn’t yet made up his mind.

“He’ll find the right time to sit down and discuss it. He hasn’t talked to me. He’ll talk to Ashley,” the former New Orleans Saints quarterback, told SportsCenter later in the day.

“I think it will be pretty clear-cut. He loves this game. The end of last year being hurt, this year being hurt could affect this. When the time comes, he’ll sit down and make the right decision.”

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NFL Open Manning Investigation

The NFL has opened an investigation into allegations that Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning had human growth hormone sent to his house.

Manning, 39, has described the allegations, made by broadcaster Al Jazeera, as "complete garbage".

Its source - Texas-based pharmacist Charlie Sly - has since recanted.

The allegations surfaced in an Al Jazeera report that said Manning's wife received deliveries of HGH, which is banned by the NFL, at their home.

At the time, Manning was recovering from neck surgery suffered during his spell with the Indianapolis Colts.

The NFL does not expect to reach a verdict before Manning's Denver side play the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl on 7 February.

Manning holds the records for most passing yards and touchdown passes and has been voted the NFL's most valuable player on a record five occasions.

The 39-year-old been plagued by injury and there is speculation that the Super Bowl - his fourth appearance in American football's showpiece event - could be the final game in his illustrious career.

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Panthers Overcome Seahawks

The Panthers, who led 31-0 at half-time, beat the Seahawks 31-24 as they remain on course to win the Super Bowl for the first time.

They will meet the Arizona Cardinals after their 26-20 victory over the Green Bay Packers.

The Denver Broncos will host defending champions the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game.

Denver were trailing 13-12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers with 10 minutes to go before CJ Anderson scored the only touchdown to help the Broncos win 23-16.

The Patriots, who are aiming to make a record ninth Super Bowl, ended the Kansas City Chiefs' 11-game winning run with a 27-20 success.

Carolina won 15 of their 16 matches during the regular season and looked on their way to an easy victory against Seattle. Two touchdowns from Jonathan Stewart and one apiece from Luke Kuechly and Greg Olsen helped Carolina into a 31-point lead.

However, two touchdowns from Jermaine Kearse and one from Tyler Lockett brought Seattle within seven points, but Carolina held on.

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Dolphins Choose Bears Gase

Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase was hired Saturday as the Miami Dolphins’ ninth coach since 2004, and he’ll try to end the team’s seven-year playoff drought.

Gase was the NFL’s hottest coaching candidate among assistants, and at 37, he becomes the league’s young coach. He also interviewed with the Eagles, Browns and Giants and had been considered the front-runner for the Dolphins job.

“We did exhaustive research on all of the candidates ahead of time, and conducted thorough and detailed interviews with each person,” owner Stephen Ross said in a statement. “In the end I was convinced, and the search committee was unanimous – Adam was the right leader for our football team who best met all of our priorities. He has high energy, is competitive and driven to win, with a mindset of teaching and developing players.”

An introductory news conference was scheduled for Saturday.

Gase has no head coaching experience but has been a target of NFL coaching searches for at least three years. A year ago he followed coach John Fox from Denver to Chicago after interviewing for head jobs with the Bears, Bills and Falcons.

Gase is a protege of former Dolphins coach Nick Saban and has won favorable reviews for his work with a range of quarterback talent – from Peyton Manning to Jay Cutler to Tim Tebow. In Miami, he’ll try to help Ryan Tannehill, who is 29-35 in four years as a starter and regressed in 2015, when the Dolphins finished 6-10.

Executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, who led the job search, had success while with the Jets hiring first-time NFL head coaches Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan. That approach hasn’t worked with the coaching carousel in Miami, where none of Gase’s eight most recent predecessors had previous NFL head coaching experience.

Like Gase, the Dolphins’ three most recent offseason hires were assistants -- Cam Cameron, Tony Sparano and Joe Philbin.

Miami did interview former head coaches Mike Shanahan, Mike Smith and Doug Marrone this week. Others interviewed included Dolphins interim coach, Dan Campbell; Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin; and Bills running backs coach and assistant head coach Anthony Lynn.

But from the start, there was a buzz about Gase. During his single season with the Bears, they won only six games and ranked 17th in offensive points, but he helped Cutler reduce his turnovers and post a career-high passer rating of 92.3.

Gase spent six seasons on the staff in Denver, where he helped Tebow win a playoff game. In his first season as offensive coordinator in 2013, Manning and the Broncos scored an NFL record 606 points and reached the Super Bowl. The following year they scored 482 points, the league’s second-highest total.

A native of Ypsilanti, Michigan, Gase worked on the staff of Michigan State coach Nick Saban while a student there. He followed Saban to LSU and was a graduate assistant and recruiting assistant before beginning his NFL career in 2003.

Saban coached the Dolphins in 2005-06. He’s one of their eight coaches since their most recent playoff victory in 2000.

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Overtime Win Earns Denver Playoff

AP

DeMarcus Ware beat AJ McCarron to a fumbled snap in overtime, sending the Denver Broncos into the playoffs with a 20-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.

Ware’s recovery followed a 37-yard field goal by Brandon McManus, whose shanked 45-yarder at the end of regulation made necessary the extra drama.

The Broncos (11-4) overcame a 14-0 first-half deficit in clinching their fifth consecutive playoff berth and denying the Bengals (11-4) their first road win on a Monday night since 1990.

Denver can earn the top seed in the AFC with a win over San Diego and a loss by New England at Miami next weekend.

Denver, which was in danger of becoming the first team since the 1970 merger to miss the playoffs after starting 10-2, snapped a two-game skid with its third overtime win of the season.

McManus has missed a kick in five consecutive games, and this one wasn’t even close. It sailed wide left to the astonishment of 74,511 fans even though the flags atop the goal posts revealed a complete lack of wind.

The Bengals called tails and the coin landed heads.

Unlike Patriots coach Bill Belichick a day earlier, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak chose to receive, and Denver drove 60 yards in 13 plays. Both Emmanuel Sanders and Owen Daniels limped off during the drive.

Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler, making his sixth straight start in place of Peyton Manning, also banged an elbow in the frenetic final minutes but stayed in.

McManus then redeemed himself by splitting the uprights from 37 yards out 5 minutes into the extra period.

Then, it was up to the league’s best defense to seal the deal.

There was an incompletion on first down that the Broncos felt should have been a fumble by McCarron with Derek Wolfe recovering the ball as it skittered downfield, but a review upheld the ruling. Incomplete.

Second-and-10 from the Bengals 33.

Center Russell Bodine’s shotgun snap sailed past McCarron, making his second start in place of Andy Dalton, and Ware beat him to the loose football.

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