Peyton Manning: I’m so pissed off I may have broken fingers throwing passes

Perhaps there is a silver lining that can be taken from the report over the weekend that accused Peyton Manning of using performance-enhancing drugs. Has the 39-year-old quarterback’s arm strength been restored because of it?

In an interview with Peter King of The MMQB, Manning said he may have broken some of his receivers’ fingers during a throwing session because he is so angry over the allegations.

“Yeah, I’m upset,” he said. “I’m pissed off. I was throwing so hard this morning I think I broke some fingers out there.”

King described Manning as “alternately angry and emotional and strident and impassioned and defensive” while discussing the Al Jazeera report that claimed Manning received shipments of HGH to his home in 2011 that were addressed to his wife Ashley.

“I can promise you this is a total fabrication,” Manning said. “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?”

Manning admitted to getting emotional while defending himself.

“Every treatment I did, I did with the knowledge and cooperation of the Colts,” he said. “Never did I do anything outside the rules. Damn straight I’d never do anything outside the rules. I know how hard I’ve worked to play in this league for 18 years. For this jerk to insinuate I cut any corners, I cheated, I took shortcuts, is outrageous. Damn outrageous.

“I’m getting emotional now. But I know what I did. And I did nothing illegal.”

There are plenty of people who believe Manning would be better off taking the “no comment” approach if the allegations are false. Instead, he has chosen to come out swinging and looked like he was close to tears at one point during this interview. But if he did nothing wrong, you can’t blame him for being furious.