Attorney for Ryan Howard, Ryan Zimmerman threatens lawsuit

An attorney representing baseball players Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman is threatening a lawsuit against news outlet Al Jazeera for airing a report accusing the athletes of receiving performance-enhancing drugs.

William Burck, an attorney from the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that they will “go to court” over the allegations.

“The extraordinarily reckless claims made against our clients in this report are completely false and rely on a source who has already recanted his claims,” Burck said. “We will go to court to hold Al Jazeera and other responsible parties accountable for smearing our clients’ good names.”

Al Jazeera published a report called “The Dark Side” where British hurdler Liam Collins went undercover posing as an athlete attempting to make the 2015 Olympic Games. He got his information about a PED ring from a pharmacist named Charlie Sly, who worked at the Guyer Institute — an anti-aging facility in Indianapolis.

The biggest name tied to the Al Jazeera report was Peyton Manning, who was alleged to have received HGH treatment. Other NFL players like Mike Neal, Julius Peppers, Dustin Keller and James Harrison were named in the report for receiving a hormone supplement. Mike Tyson and Clay Matthews’ names also came up in the report.

Zimmerman was the No. 4 overall pick by the Washington Nationals in the 2005 draft and has been with the team since then. He was an All-Star in 2009 when he hit 33 home runs, and he has bashed 200 career dingers. Howard has been with the Phillies organization since being drafted in 2001. He won Rookie of the Year in 2005 and NL MVP in 2006. The three-time All-Star has finished top-five in MVP voting four times and has led the league in homers twice in his career.