NFL star Peyton Manning says a report that suggests he used performance-enhancing drugs was "completely fabricated, complete trash," and "garbage".
Manning is infuriated by allegations he took human growth hormones reportedly sent to his wife while recovering from neck fusion surgery in 2011.
"I can't speak for any other athlete. I know what I've done, I know how hard I've worked in my 18 years of playing in the NFL," he told ESPN.
"There are no shortcuts in the NFL. I've done it the long way, I've done it the hard way.
"And to insinuate anything otherwise is a complete and total joke, it's defamation and it really ticks me off."
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A report set to air on Sunday shows Charles Sly, a former intern at an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic, telling an undercover reporter that he supplied the drugs to Manning.
However the man now refutes those claims in a YouTube statement, where he says the Al-Jazeera network recorded him without his knowledge or consent.
"The statements on any recordings or communications that Al-Jazeera plans to air are absolutely false and incorrect," Sly said.
"To be clear, I am recanting any such statements and there is no truth to any statement of mine that Al-Jazeera plans to air."
Sly, who also named other high-profile athletes on the secret recordings made by Collins, told ESPN that he fabricated the allegations to test the journalist's legitimacy.
The Broncos and Colts issued statements Sunday morning in support of Manning.
"Knowing Peyton Manning and everything he stands for, the Denver Broncos support him 100 per cent," the team said. "These are false claims made to Al Jazeera, and we don't believe the report."
The Colts, whom Manning played for from 1998-2011, issued a statement calling the report "utterly ridiculous."
"We are thoroughly familiar with Peyton's tireless work habits, his medical history, and, most importantly, his integrity," the Colts said.
"Peyton played the game in Indianapolis for 14 years the right way. He never took any shortcuts and it would be absurd to suggest he would have taken prohibited performance enhancing drugs."
Manning admitted he sought holistic treatments such as hyperbaric oxygen and nutrient therapy at the Guyer Institute, an anti-aging clinic in Indianapolis, in 2011 with knowledge and consent of the Colts training and medical staff following his four neck surgeries.
However he says he's never taken anything that was ever sent to his wife nor has he ever used the illegal performance enhancers, which were banned by the NFL in 2011.
A number of lawyers for Major League Baseball stars who were also mentioned in the report, including Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman, have also attacked the allegations.
