Papa John's, A Major NFL Sponsor, Is Standing By Peyton Manning

In the wake of doping allegations against Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, one of the NFL's major corporate sponsors is standing behind him.

Papa John's on Tuesday issued a statement slamming the Al-Jazeera documentary that revealed that the NFL star may have obtained human growth hormone through an Indianapolis-based anti-aging clinic.

"Papa John's is aware of the speculation. During the course of our relationship, Peyton has represented himself, the game of football and Papa John's with the utmost honor and integrity," the pizza franchise said in a statement.

"Furthermore, he has been a trusted friend. It is a shame for all his hard work, to have one of the greatest comebacks against all odds, that he has to deal with these allegations."

Manning has served as a paid spokesman for the company since 2011 . In addition to appearing in several commercials , he also owns 21 Papa John's franchises in the Denver area.

The pizza chain has a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with the NFL, serving as the "official pizza" for the Broncos and many other NFL teams, as well as sponsoring the Super Bowl.

Manning has denied the reports that he received performance-enhancing drugs through the Guyer Institute in Indianapolis, where he received treatment for an injury in 2011.

In the Al-Jazeera documentary released this week, pharmacist Charlie Sly claims that the clinic supplied Manning with human growth hormone, concealing it by prescribing it to Manning's wife Ashley.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"Al Jazeera English","cache_age":60,"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":1288,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wJRPxmTuxoI/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":2291,"title":"Al Jazeera Investigates - The Dark Side","type":"video","url":"https://action.news/watch?v=wJRPxmTuxoI","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"5682d911e4b0b958f65a92b3","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/papa-johns-peyton-manning_n_5682d911e4b0b958f65a92b3","entryTagsList":"peyton-manning,peyton-manning-doping,papa-johns,peyton-manning-hgh,al-jazeera-hgh,papa-johns-franchise,@genassign,@health_adhd,@health_depression,@health_erectile,@health_gad,@health_hiv,@health_ibs,@health_models,@health_pain","sectionSlug":"sports","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"business","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.sports","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":9},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"5682d911e4b0b958f65a92b3","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Peyton Manning","slug":"peyton-manning","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/peyton-manning","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/peyton-manning","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/peyton-manning"},"section":{"title":"Sports","slug":"sports"},"topic":{"title":"Peyton Manning","slug":"peyton-manning","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/topic/peyton-manning"},{"name":"peyton manning doping","slug":"peyton-manning-doping","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/peyton-manning-doping","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/peyton-manning-doping","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/peyton-manning-doping"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/peyton-manning-doping"},{"name":"papa john's","slug":"papa-johns","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/papa-johns","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/papa-johns","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/papa-johns"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/papa-johns"},{"name":"peyton manning hgh","slug":"peyton-manning-hgh","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/peyton-manning-hgh","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/peyton-manning-hgh","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/peyton-manning-hgh"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/peyton-manning-hgh"},{"name":"al jazeera hgh","slug":"al-jazeera-hgh","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/al-jazeera-hgh","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/al-jazeera-hgh","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/al-jazeera-hgh"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"World News","slug":"world-news"},"topic":{"title":"Al Jazeera","slug":"al-jazeera","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/al-jazeera"},{"name":"papa john's franchise","slug":"papa-johns-franchise","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/papa-johns-franchise","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/papa-johns-franchise","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/papa-johns-franchise"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/papa-johns-franchise"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false,"enhancements":{}}">