Author Malcolm Gladwell came to the defense of Peyton Manning amid the former MVP quarterback’s HGH scandal by ripping the NFL for its hypocrisy.
The New York Times best-selling writer tweeted Tuesday for the first time since Dec. 7 to point out how inconsequential using HGH to recover from multiple neck surgeries is in comparison to some of the other lower-profile scandals concerning the NFL.
I totally share the NFL's concern that Peyton Manning may have taken HGH to recover from his four neck surgeries.
— Malcolm Gladwell (@Gladwell) December 29, 2015
That's so much worse that a game that caused him to have four neck surgeries.
— Malcolm Gladwell (@Gladwell) December 29, 2015
Or that causes young men to be hit over the head so many times that countless numbers of them suffer from dementia and early death.
— Malcolm Gladwell (@Gladwell) December 29, 2015
Or that makes college players work for peanuts while they make millions for their schools.
— Malcolm Gladwell (@Gladwell) December 29, 2015
Or where billionaire owners extort tens of millions from local taxpayers to pay for their stadiums.
— Malcolm Gladwell (@Gladwell) December 29, 2015
Having your ethics investigated by Roger Goodell is like being called ugly by a frog.
— Malcolm Gladwell (@Gladwell) December 29, 2015
It’s hard to disagree with the man, especially when he puts things into perspective like that. Gladwell’s thoughts also make you consider one other point: even if Manning did use HGH to recover from surgery, would that be the worst thing in the world in terms of ethics? We know another pro athlete who talked about the appeal of using growth hormone to recover from a serious surgery so long as the side effects were mitigated.
If new medical advancements are able to help athletes recover and get back to their previous levels of ability, how wrong are they?
