Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning Denies Using Performance Enhancing Drug HGH

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is the subject of a new controversy in the NFL. A report has recently linked the former Indianapolis Colts star to using a performance enhancement drug called human growth hormone, or HGH. Manning has now come out denying those claims.

Allegations began swirling after an Al Jazeera report, released on Sunday, claimed that Manning used the performance enhancing drug back in 2011.

According to BuzzFeed, an hour-long documentary was shot by the publication that featured former British hurdler Liam Collins as he went undercover to talk to pharmacists, doctors and other medical specialists who claim to be involved with providing enhancement drugs to athletes.

Among those interviewed for the doc was Charles Sly, an unpaid intern at the Guyer Institute, as reported by the New York Times. Sly claimed that the Indianapolis anti-aging clinic sent several "shipments of human growth hormone" to Peyton's wife, Ashley Manning.

But as it turns out, Sly wasn't telling the truth during his conversation with Collins.

Meanwhile, talking to Peter King for the Monday Morning Quarterback, Manning refuted the claims:

"'I can promise you this is a total fabrication," Manning said, with the outlet claiming his voice was "sometimes shaking." The NFL star added, "I simply do not understand how somebody makes up something like this and it becomes a story. And then the guy admits he made it up and it's still a story. How exactly does that work?"

Peyton Manning isn't the only person to refute the claims. In addition to the Denver Broncos, the Indianapolis Colts and Sly, Guyer Institute founder Dr. Dale Guyer also denied the doping allegations.

He said, "I find it extremely disturbing that the source of Al Jazeera's story, a former unpaid intern named Charles Sly, would violate the privacy of Mrs. Manning's medical records. ... And be so callous and destructive as to purposely fabricate and spread stories that are simply not true." 

While HGH isn't illegal in the country, the performance enhancing drug is banned in several professional sports. The NFL banned the use of the drug in 2011, as reported by CNN.

Watch the Al Jazeera report, entitled Al Jazeera Investigates – The Dark Side: Secrets of the Sports Dopers, in the video below.